


Woman In Chains

by Dard_E_Disco



Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood and Violence, Dirty Talk, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, Lesbian Sex, Loss of Innocence, Older Man/Younger Woman, Older Woman/Younger Woman, Prison, Prison Sex, Rape, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rough Sex, Sadism, Self Harm, Serial Killers, Sexy Times, Strong Female Characters, Women In Power, Women in Prison, explicit violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-22 12:13:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 24,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30038523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dard_E_Disco/pseuds/Dard_E_Disco
Summary: Maria is innocent! She's been framed and tossed in a hellhole prison on a barren island to rot! How will this sweet society princess survive amongst the she-cat inmates with razor sharp claws and deviant minds? The warden - a voluptous woman with few morals - is sadistic and sensual, the guards are her trained dogs, and the prison doctor is a handsome mystery. Can Maria fight her way to the top and achieve her freedom, or will she become another nameless, heartless number?This is a copy of my ongoing story on wattpad (link is in bio)
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

A concrete fortress three storeys tall. Surrounded by a wall bedecked with barbed wire. Two towers where armed guards watch the grounds at all times. A cragged, weed-strangled island. Waves bash against the rocky shore. There's only one dock, only one boat, and only one way off and on.

Maria shivered in her white eyelet dress. The ribbon in her hair fluttered in the breeze and the salt of the sea spray made her eyes sting and her lips dry. The guard held her steady as the boat was slowed and anchored.

"Please, I don't belong here!"

The guard rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter. You're here, aren't you?"

"But I'm innocent!"

"Of course you are, sweetheart."

Her pleas fell on deaf ears. It seemed that no one cared. Not the cops, not her lawyer, not the prosecution or the judge or the jury that had convicted her. They saw a spoiled little rich girl, supported by her daddy's money, and judged her unfairly. How would she survive three years on this island?

Her dress billowed about her legs as she was dragged ashore. Her heels sank into the coarse sand as she struggled to keep pace with the guard. A chain stretched between them, the end of it attached to her handcuffs and the lead held tight in a clenched fist.

The huge reinforced doors of the outer wall opened with an ominous groan. Maria shuffled behind the guard and anxiously gnawed at her bottom lip.

Another guard appeared.

"Miss Randall?" The second guard - a burly older woman - asked.

"It is." Her guard, the one who'd been with her during the journey, nodded and shoved Maria across the yellow line that separated the prison from the island. The burly guard caught her and took control of her chain.

"I don't belong here." Maria whispered fearfully.

She was ignored.

"Any problems?"

Her guard shrugged. "Whiny." She smirked. "Crybaby. You know the type."

"All right, princess," the burly guard forced her forward and marched her across the courtyard as the doors closed behind them.

"You're hurting me!" Maria cried pitifully. She bruised like a peach. Her pale skin would be black and blue by morning.

The guard snorted dismissively.

They had to buzz for entry to the main building and there were four more locked metal doors to clear before they arrived in a large, almost completely bare, room. There was one desk, on which sat a blue plastic tray, a black pen and three forms. The warden, a stern yet attractive woman in her fifties, sat down as they approached. There were three guards standing behind her, all of them blank and intimidating.

They were all silent as Maria's chains were unlocked and removed.

"Good evening, Miss Randall. I trust you had a comfortable enough journey. My name is Elizabeth Sinclair. You may call me Warden Sinclair, or Ma'am. And you may speak to me only when spoken to, is that clear?"

Maria nodded. "Yes, Ma'am." Her voice shook.

Warden Sinclair smiled. Her lips were painted a warm orange red. It complimented her bronze hair and tanned skin.

"Please empty your bag into this tray."

As Maria obeyed - her possessions dropping onto the plastic with upsetting thuds - the warden filled part of the paperwork. She then peered at the tray's contents: a pink lipstick, a beaded purse, a hairbrush, a gold and diamond wristwatch, and a crumpled, tearstained love letter.

"You'll get these back when you leave." She motioned with her hand. "Take off your dress and underthings. I will issue you with prison regulation uniform."

Maria hesitated, her cheeks flaming red, and then began to strip. Her hands shook as her pulled her dress over her head and it took several painful seconds for her to unhook her bra and push down her panties. She was well aware of the warden's gaze roaming her naked body and a rush of shame overcame her. She was too skinny, too delicate. Too obviously privileged. Too weak to survive behind bars.

The warden handed her a pair of grey pants. They were almost shorts. They covered her cheeks fully and reached just below her belly button. Next she was given a grey jumpsuit. There was one white stripe that ran across her breasts, upper arms and back. The number 73-555 stood out starkly against it. She was given white sneakers for her feet and a hair-tie.

"Maria?" The warden's voice curled around her name.

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Try not to be so scared. Things will be just fine for you here as long as you're good. You are a good girl, aren't you, Maria?"

She nodded.

The warden smiled. "I thought so. Of course you've done wrong, but you're here to pay for your crimes. I'm here to help you do that. You'll be put on laundry detail as soon as you integrate into the main jail. Firstly, however, you have to go through a week's quarantine. There's another girl in there now, she arrived yesterday, so you won't be lonely."

Warden Sinclair stood up, her forest green uniform tight enough to reveal the supple curves of her body. She circled Maria, appraising her, and lifted her chin with the end of her baton.

"You are very beautiful."

Maria's eyes widened.

"Thank the warden!" The burly guard barked, shocking her.

Maria gulped. "Thank you Ma'am."

The warden ran a gloved finger down Maria's jawline and brushed a lock of her white-blonde hair behind her ear. "Such big eyes. Like a little deer." She laughed. "Shall I call you Bambi?"

Maria stuttered nonsense, blushing.

"My, my, Bambi. You are shy and very sweet. Don't be afraid. I'll keep an eye on you." It was a promise. "Kleinfeld!"

The burly guard took hold of Maria once more.

"Take her to the quarantine cells. Be gentle."

Kleinfeld frowned, loosening her grip to appease her boss. Maria sighed gratefully.

She was signed in and her fingerprints were taken. Then there was another long hallway, another locked door, and a row of small cages containing beds, sinks and toilets. A black girl with boxy braids lounged back on her bed, watching with lazy interest as Maria was shown into her cage.

"I want some smokes," the girl said to Kleinfeld.

"Not in quarantine. I told you."

She stuck her tongue out. "Bitch. I'm Darien." She grinned. "Who're you?"

"This is Bambi." Kleinfeld smirked.

"I'm Maria." Maria said insistently.

"Bambi?" Darien laughed. "That's cute. You got any smokes?"

"No."

"No smoking in quarantine." Kleinfeld repeated, locking the cage door. "Dinner's in an hour. It's meatloaf."

Darien groaned. "Not again!"

When they were alone, the only sound the ticking of the large clock high on the back wall, Maria felt all the strength leave her body. She sat on the edge of her bed and choked a dry sob.

"What's the matter? Haven't you ever served time before?"

"No!" A tear rolled down her cheek. "Have you?"

"Sure, Bambi. This is my second visit. Last time was just a couple of months. This time I got two years...one if I'm lucky." She whistled. "Girl, you've got no idea what you're in for."

She sounded like a seasoned pro about to explain the ropes. There was also an undercurrent of pride that revealed itself in the smugness of her expression. She walked to the edge of her cage, which bordered Maria's, and languidly draped herself against the bars.

"How old are you?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"Twenty-five." Maria sniffed.

"I'm twenty-three. My boyfriend's my pimp."

Maria's brow creased.

Darien laughed. "Yeah, you're green. Where you from? Beverly Hills? Got a rich daddy? I bet you do. You look the type. How come he couldn't get you off, Bambi?"

"He's rich." Maria bit her lip. "But he's honest. He thinks people should do the time if they commit a crime. He thinks I'm guilty because..."

Darien raised an eyebrow.

"Because I used to party a lot. I used to be sort of wild...sort of...but he should know - I wish he believed - that I might have been irresponsible...but I would never smuggle drugs..."

"That's what you're in for?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Three to four years."

Darien whistled, impressed.

"Tell you what...I'll look out for you, how's that? We can be friends. I know all about this place. I know who's cool and who's to be avoided at all costs. I know how to get little extras from the guards." She mimed sniffing a powdered substance and then laughed at Maria's reaction. "Yeah, they play favourites in here. There's male guards, too, so occasionally you get to suck a dick."

"I have a fiance!"

"Not in here, you don't."

Maria thought of Peter Radcliffe, her longtime lover. He was from a wealthy family but he was estranged from them. They'd met in college when he crashed her sorority with four of his fraternity brothers.

Peter was a playboy who lived off his trust fund. He cheated on her, she knew that, but he had agreed to stop after marriage. She trusted that he would because she knew he loved her. He told her he did every night whether in person or on the phone. He'd shouted it at her as she was found guilty and escorted from the courtroom in shame.

He'd sworn to try and get her out. He was her only hope.

"Wait 'til you see the prison doctor. He's in his forties, but he's a damn fox. All the girls salivate for a checkup but, as far as I know, he's never screwed a bitch in here. Maybe he's a fag, I dunno, but he's fine as hell."

Maria was barely listening. As if anyone could compare to her Peter and his soft, honey-coloured hair and charming smile. She lay down and fell into a daydream where he appeared on the island, dressed in a suit and tie, and told her she was free and that they were leaving to get married. She pictured herself in her wedding dress. It was creamy white, covered in pearls and lace, with a large puffy skirt. She'd left it in a zipped bag, hanging at the back of her walk in closet. A tear slipped from her eye and she wiped it away quickly, knowing that Darien was watching her.


	2. Chapter 2

The week in quarantine passed very slowly. Darien talked a lot about nothing and Maria grudgingly gave up tidbits about her life. They came from very different backgrounds and had little in common, but the other girl was nice enough. Was it too much to hope that the rest on the inmates would be as unthreatening and easygoing?

On the last day, Kleinfeld appeared at seven am and ran her baton along the bars of the cages to wake them up.

"Come on, ladies," she drawled, "time to see the doctor."

Darien rolled over and winked at Maria, who couldn't hold back a little smile. They were taken to the showers where they washed and redressed under Kleinfeld's penetrative stare. Then they followed her up a flight of stairs to the infirmary, which smelled of bleach and antiseptic.

A man stood in front of a faded chart. He was around 5'10 and had a slender build beneath his long white medical coat. Maria looked at his face and was surprised to see that Darien's praise had not been exaggeration.

His hair was dark and curled gently over his forehead and collar. His skin was swarthy and his smile large and white. His nose was very straight, his cheekbones high, and his eyes were the blue-green of the ocean that roiled against the rocks outside.

"This is Doctor Giuliano." Kleinfeld said flatly.

The doctor's smile was kind. "Call me Gabriel." He held out his hand and Maria shook it, her mouth open as she tried to think of anything to say.

"Hi!" Darien said brightly.

"Back again?" Gabriel huffed a laugh.

"I couldn't stay away."

"I guess not. Miss...uh..." he checked the papers on his desk. "Miss Randall? Would you like to go first?"

"You can call her Bambi," Darien smirked.

His brilliant eyes flitted between them as he led Maria behind the partition. He checked her throat and eyes and ears first, then her blood pressure, and then politely asked her to remove her jumpsuit.

"You can keep your underwear on," he said when she blanched.

Kleinfeld snorted. "Don't feel sorry for the prisoners, doctor. There's no point in modesty here anyhow."

He nodded at Maria, letting her know that what he said still stood.

It wasn't much, since she hadn't been issued with a bra, but the regulation underpants provided some safe barrier between them.

He checked her over with care, not commenting on her goose pimples or the way her nipples stiffened in the cold. Of course he looked, he had to, but he glanced away as their eyes met. His lashes were so long and thick that they almost gave the impression he was wearing liner, she thought as he helped her up onto the scale.

"Make sure to eat at breakfast, lunch and dinner," he commented as he read the number, "you are slightly underweight."

Maria blushed. She hadn't been eating. The trays of bland food issued to them in quarantine turned her stomach.

"Otherwise, you're fine. Do you have anything you'd like to ask? Any allergies to mention?"

She shook her head.

"Okay. You can get dressed. Darien, you're up."

It was amusing just how quickly the other girl stripped. She handed her underwear to Gabriel who took it without realising.

"Can you put them on your desk?" Darien asked sweetly. "I don't want them to get dirty on the floor."

The doctor smiled tolerantly and did as she asked. Maria finished buttoning her jumpsuit and sat patiently on one of the neat white beds as Darien went through the same routine.

"Still smoking?" Gabriel tutted.

"I'm down to three packs a day!" Darien's grin was infectious.

"That's no good."

"C'mon, doc, what else is there to do in here? I've been going nuts without them all week!"

"Hmmm. Try to cut down to a pack a day, all right?"

Darien rolled her eyes.

"Aside from that, you're fine. They can go into gen-pop as soon as you'd like." He spoke to Kleinfeld who nodded. "I'd like to speak to the warden later, if you don't mind."

Kleinfeld drew in a deep breath, her generous bosom puffing up importantly. "The warden's busy. She might not have time until late tonight."

Gabriel's gaze was even.

"That's fine. I'll be waiting."

"She'll come to your room."

"You live here?" Maria blurted out, shocked.

Kleinfeld turned sharply. "Do you think we all have time to row home every night?" She sneered. "There are staff quarters, girl. The good doctor here, though, he's an inmate just like you."

A male inmate in a women's prison? Maria frowned in confusion. She looked in wonder at the striking and considerate man. He smiled but offered no comment or explanation.

"Come on!" Kleinfeld barked, hauling her to her feet. "I haven't got all day!"

Darien joined them, not bothering with the topmost buttons of her jumpsuit. She left them open, offering glimpses of her breasts as she waved a flirtatious goodbye.

Kleinfeld radiated disapproval, propelling Maria roughly in front of her. Darien swaggered behind.

"I can't fucking wait for a smoke!" She declared, knowing full well that the doctor could still hear her.

"Um." Maria hesitated. "What is Gab...Doctor Giuliano in for?"

"If an inmate wants to tell you why they're here, they'll tell you." Kleinfeld pushed her up a flight of stairs as Darien followed, singing some misremembered song.

"But why is he serving his sentence here?"

"Budget cuts. We needed a doctor. He's competent and we don't have to pay him. Is that all, Miss Nosy?"

"Cool it, Bambi," Darien interjected. "Old Kleinfeld here hates chit chat. Who cares what the guy did? Just be glad there's some male eye-candy in this hellhole!" She skipped ahead and walked backwards to wink knowingly at Maria. "I knew he'd get your panties wet."

Maria denied it, blushing furiously.

Darien's laugh echoed in the empty hallway. She began to run, slapping the walls with her palm and whooping. When she reached the doors at the end she threw herself onto them and kissed the tiny window. "I'm back, bitches!" She yelled.

The sound of faint cheers and shouts reached Maria's ears.

"Gen-pop's on the other side." Kleinfeld glanced at her. "Get ready, princess."

She rapped on the door and they heard the sound of it being unlocked and unbolted. Two guards - a bearded man and an ugly woman - let them into to the small area where they sat during their shifts. The bars that separated them from the open plan ward were decorated with stickers and scarves. There was a waving gold Chinese cat on the desk and a fuzzy portable TV beside it.

Maria hid behind Darien, cast in shade by the girl's natural exuberance.

The male guard unlocked the barred door and showed the new arrival and welcome return in. They were greeted by at least fifty women. Beds lined the left and right walls, a cabinet for each prisoner beside each one, and random chairs, sagging sofas, and various recreational objects were scattered about the wide space between. There were two doors at the far end. One read SHOWERS in block capitals and the other read TOILETS.

"What did you do this time?" A sandy haired girl called to Darien as she painted her long nails an alarming shade of pink.

"Picked up a cop." Darien teased.

"And?"

"Tried to sell him drugs."

The girl cackled.

"Give me a smoke, will you, Maggie? I've been cold turkey for a week!"

Maggie cooed in sympathy and took a full pack out of her cabinet. She tossed it to Darien who caught it midair and lit up as soon as she was able. The inmates barely heard the cell doors locking behind them; they were too interested in the fresh meat.

Maria shied away from the hands that reached out to touch her arms and tug at the fabric of her jumpsuit. She avoided the curious gazes and clung tightly to Darien, who was engaged in conversation with just about everyone.

Eventually she worked up the courage to look up. A woman standing against the wall smiled at her. She was tall and dark skinned, with a uniquely gorgeous face and almond brown eyes. Her thick black hair was swept back from her face in a high ponytail, falling in a twisting ringlet to her shoulders. She wore a lavender scarf around the waist of her jumpsuit, emphasising her figure.

Another black woman - short haired, strong-featured and muscular - lounged on the bed beside her.

The first, still smiling, made her way over to where Darien was loudly detailing the story of her last arrest. She held up her hand and they fist bumped.

"Who's your friend?"

Darien glanced back at Maria. "This is Bambi. First-timer."

"Bambi? Is that really your name?"

Maria shook her head. "No, I mean, I'm Maria Randall."

"I'm Malika."

She held out her hand for Maria to shake. Her skin was smooth and cool and her grip was grounding.

"That bitch there on my bed is Ada Jones. She doesn't talk much, but she's second in command around here. I'm first."

"Beni would disagree." An accented voice piped up.

Malika shot a dark look at the speaker. "Beni's not here."

There was a lot of power coming off of Malika. It was in her voice and her stance and the way the others had parted to let her through.

"Who's Beni?" Maria asked timidly.

"Beni the butch!" Another girl with spiral curls sniggered.

"Beni the bitch!" A blonde muttered.

Malika didn't answer. She seemed annoyed by the conversation.

"You have to pick a bed," Darien nudged her, "and stash your stuff."

Maria didn't have any stuff. She supposed she might accumulate some, sooner or later. The other women had hand mirrors, hair brushes, lipsticks and mascaras and other ordinary belongings that, behind bars, became luxuries. She wandered down the middle of the ward and avoided the eyes of all those who stared. When she reached the first empty bed she stopped.

"Oh no," Darien said behind her. "That's Beni's. See."

She pointed to the headboard where a red hair scarf was tied tightly.

Maria pointed to next empty bed, which was to the absent Beni's right. "Whose bed is that?"

"Yours, I guess."

Darien took the one opposite and stretched out lazily. She finished her first cigarette and started on another. Maria climbed onto her firm, thin mattress and listened to the springs squeak below. She put her head in her hands and sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

The doctor's cell was just to the left of the infirmary. He was in isolation, well away from the female prisoners, and it suited him fine. It was part of the reason he'd agreed to take the position and serve out his sentence in a female penitentiary. The first place he'd been sent - full of sweating, swearing men itching to use their fists - had been awful. There'd been no escape from the testosterone fuelled aggression. And worse than that, there'd been one who looked at him with something Gabriel couldn't reciprocate. The man's lust had scared him. He didn't know what to do with it.

Of course, he was well aware that his face and body were attractive to others. He could handle it with women, mostly.

A knock sounded at the door, quickly followed by keys in the lock. Warden Sinclair always knocked, but they both knew she'd enter whether he wanted her to or not.

"You requested a visit?" Her full lips pursed smugly.

"I did."

"What do you want?"

She was already roaming her eyes over his body. The protective white coat was gone and he was left in a grey tank and darker grey uniform trousers. His feet were bare.

"I need more supplies. I can't treat the prisoners with out of date medicines."

Warden Sinclair frowned. "That costs money."

"You have the funds."

"Do I?" She inched closer and trailed her fingertips across his collarbone. "You ask for too much, doctor. Every month there's a list of unessecary expenditure. They're criminals, they don't deserve to live in comfort."

"I hardly think treating wounds, viruses and the like can be called providing unessecary comfort. It's basic care, which all people have a right to."

Her tongue darted out to wet her lower lip. "Oh, doctor, you're such a saint." He shivered as her hand stroked down his sternum until it lingered at the drawstring of his trousers. She shrugged. "You know I'll never deny you. You know what you have to do."

When he felt her start to tug at the string, he batted her hand away and dropped to his knees. She gripped a handful of his hair and tilted his head back to watch him swallow.

"You are a very beautiful man."

"So you've said."

"Don't you like to hear it?"

"No."

She laughed. "Why do you think I like to say it?" Her thumb dipped into his mouth and swept over the tip of his tongue. He grimaced when she released him, settling into as comfortable a position as he could.

Sinclair shimmed out of her nude pantyhose and then lifted her straight, clinging skirt to reveal a distinct lack of underwear. No words were needed; he knew what she wanted.

His hand landed on her upper thigh as she lifted her leg to provide him easier access. A satisfied sigh issued from her as he closed his eyes and licked into the wet hot heat of her cunt. It wasn't long before she took full control, digging her nails into his scalp and pressing his face into her pubic curls so that she could direct his tongue and grind herself against his nose and mouth and chin. He fought to breathe, trying to be quiet, knowing she loved to hear him struggle. It was that which got her off more than anything. Sometimes he thought she'd go too far and suffocate him.

"Not such an angel down on the ground, are you, Gabriel?" Sinclair groaned long and loud. "Don't ever forget that I know why you're here; I know what you really are, you beautiful...beau...ti..full...aaahhh!"

He felt the rush of her juices and fell still as she pulled back to look at him. He met her gaze, refusing to be shamed.

"Stand up!"

He obeyed. Her questing hand found the hard planes of his chest, feeling the firm muscles beneath the worn fabric. Suddenly she took hold of his manhood and squeezed.

Gabriel tensed his jaw and shook his head. "No."

"No?"

She massaged him slowly and sensually. She'd tried before, never delving beneath his trousers but challenging him to let her.

"That's not for sale."

Sinclair laughed. "Not that. But your mouth is? You're no trembling virgin, doctor, I'm sure you need it like every man."

"Maybe. But not like this. Let me go."

Finally, angrily, she did, shoving him away from her like he was diseased.

He looked at her with disgust and she laughed again.

"I could make you. You know I could."

"I'd hope that would be beneath even you."

She shrugged. "We'll see. Keep up the good work, doctor. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Warden."

It took her a moment to fix her hair and uniform just right. Then she left and locked his door behind her. Through the barred window he could see her saunter down the corridor, swinging her baton. He sat down heavily on the thin, ratty, mattress of his bed and inhaled deeply.


	4. Chapter 4

The laundry room was enormous and damp. Steam hissed in the air as irons were lifted and lowered. The churn of the washing machines - a dozen against each wall - was a steady grinding hum beneath the chatter of the inmates as they worked. Occasionally the wheels of a cart squeaked by, carrying the finished linens to their destination.

Maria stood by Darien who was demonstrating how to fold a bed-sheet the correct way.

"They'll inspect it," she said, snapping gum, "so unless you're a fan of public humiliation, you'd better get it right."

"I don't think Bambi has done laundry before." Maggie smirked across the way.

Maria blushed.

Ana Visalia, a voluptuous, auburn haired beauty, shared a smile of commiseration. "I was like that. Fresh as a daisy in a meadow." She held up her hands to show the palms marred by dry skin and superficial burns. "Now look at me."

Darien sniggered. "Ana, please. You and 'fresh' are antonyms."

Rolling her eyes, Ana grinned. "I have always been privileged to work on my back, dear Bambi. My hands never saw such hardship."

Kleinfeld passed by them, tapping her baton against her chunky thigh. For a moment they were quiet and conscientious, all jokes on pause.

A gamin girl with a pixie cut skipped over in her wake. "Ana Banana, when's Beni coming back? I'm all out."

Ana's face fell, her pout deepening. "Why are you asking me?"

"Last time I bothered Niki she tried to shank me."

Maria's gaze fell on the girl in question. A former ballet dancer turned thief and drug addict, Niki Ramirez was a bleach blonde hellion she'd been warned to avoid, especially when Beni wasn't about and her leash was, essentially, cut.

"Well, I have no idea." Ana dumped a pile of pillowcases into a nearby cart. "I'm the last person she'd send a message to. And Kleinfeld won't tell me dick."

"Where is Beni?" Maria asked timidly.

Four sets of eyes were suddenly trained on her. She shrank in on herself but waited. At the far end of the room a slap fight broke out and was quickly stopped by several guards.

Darien blew out a breath. "Beni, Beni, Beni. I've been gone a fucking year and she's still the topic of the day. I thought Malika would've put her out her misery by now. Jeez."

"Beni's in solitary." Ana said. "She's in there more than she's out here."

"What did she do?"

Maggie cackled. "What didn't she do!"

"This time?" Ana shrugged. "She spilt a guard's head open. Bitch had it coming, if you ask me. Anyone thinks they can tell her what to do deserves what they get."

"Girl, you got it bad." Darien drew out the first and last words of her statement, punctuating it with a punch to Ana's shoulder. "We all know it gets you going when Beni gets going!" She laughed lengthily.

The gamin girl drifted away to insert herself into another group, repeating her question to them.

In the past week, after being released into gen-pop, Maria found herself thinking of her schooldays more often than not. The prisoners were all badly behaved students, the warden their headmistress, and they had their little and large cliques. For a new girl like her the conversations were hard to follow and the relationships awkward to map out. Thank heaven she had Darien, because without her she'd be relegated to the weird loners who never spoke and trudged like zombies from day to night. That kind of defeat would kill her, especially after living the cushy life of a socialite.

Things had been good - if a fortress on a barren island could qualify as such - so far. No one had gone out of the way to make her miserable and she'd not been witness to anything more violent than the throw of a fist. She was beginning to think that waiting for Peter to save her would be easier than expected.

"Line up, ladies!" One of the few male guards, a balding man named Meyer, banged his baton against a gong to get their attention. "File out to the quad, if you please."

It was exercise time, which was different to recreation time. Exercise always consisted of running laps until their feet bled and then finishing off with fifty or more push ups. Recreation, which also took place outside, was usually in the time between breakfast and lunch, and prisoners had free reign to do as they wished. Ball games, card games, arm-wrestling and chain-smoking were all popular choices.

Maria ran with the lagging pace of one used to gentle jogs on a treadmill in a gym. She panted behind the others, who all followed the pounding steps of Malika and Ada. Those two ran in perfect synchronisation, even managing to converse while picking up speed.

"Keep up the pace!" Kleinfeld bellowed.

Urging her leaden legs on, Maria glanced up at the first drop of rain. She saw, high in a window, the warden staring down at them, her arms crossed and her lips pursed. A shadow moved behind her and the doctor joined her. He was shirtless, his ocean eyes downcast.

"Randall!" Kleinfeld barked. "Watch where you're going!"

She'd veered to the left and was inches away from a nasty bang against one of the bolted down benches. Quickly, she rejoined the others and, when she dared to look again, both the doctor and the warden were gone.

******

That evening as the inmates gathered in the communal showers, Maria continued her week-long attempt at modesty by washing with her arms pressed tight over her breasts. The water was lukewarm and ran brown in places, swirling down rusty drains clogged with hair.

"Don't worry," Darien said when she noticed her grimace. "Soon as Beni gets back, that gunk'll be gone. She's always stuck on toilet and shower detail."

"Does she like that?"

"Doesn't matter. She just monitors while some other bitch does all the dirty work."

"That hardly seems fair."

"That's Beni." Darien dropped her soap and knelt down to get it. As she ducked, Maria caught the eye of Niki. The blonde was unashamed in her nudity, her breasts pointed and proud. She blew Maria a kiss and smirked at the answering blush.

Maggie nudged her. "For God's sake, don't look."

Turning quickly, Maria concentrated on scrubbing at her skin. The cleaning of her private parts was perfunctory, and she didn't linger, not the way some of the others did. There were those who took the time to touch and tease, so used to an audience that they no longer cared.

"You're pretty, Bambi." The voice was flat, the accent inner city.

It was Niki, centimetres away, her arms discoloured by track marks and cigarette burns. Maria shied away.

"I told Beni 'bout you."

"You've seen her?" Ana asked doubtfully.

"Course I have. Blew one of those bastards for the privilege." Niki's hand, fingers long and nails longer, scratched over Maria's shoulder. "Told her all about our fresh meat. She's got it rough, y'know. They starve her in that pit." A grin split her face. "I told her to eat a rat. There's plenty of them." Her teeth were sharp and yellow and chipped.

Maria backed up into Ana, who shoved her gently.

"'Course Beni don't eat nothing but pussy." Niki seemed delighted with her reactions. "She's goddamn good at it, too." Her hand shot down suddenly, fingers sliding into the curls that covered Maria's sex.

"No!"

"For fuck's sake, Niki!" Darian exclaimed.

"Leave her alone." Malika's deep and steady voice was a calming anchor. Maria sighed to hear it, collapsing against the wall in relief as Niki let her go. The blonde waltzed over to Malika with her hips swinging. As she got closer Ada stepped between them.

"Call off your bitch, honey." Niki said. "I ain't looking for trouble." She held her hands up, a sweet smile slipping across her face like a raindrop over glass. Laughing, she sauntered out of the showers, winking as she passed Kleinfeld who stood, fully clothed, at the entrance.

Ana huffed as she rinsed the last suds from her hair. "She'd do anything to get me out the picture. Listen, Bambi, I've nothing against you, but stay away from Beni, okay?"

Maria gaped at her. Not only had she never even seen the infamous Beni, she didn't even want to. The woman had been built up as some kind of snarling animal and she was afraid, at best, of the person whose bed lay alongside hers.

"Jealous, much?" Darien cocked her brow at Ana.

They stuck their tongues out at each other while Maria stuttered an acquiescence. Her subservience seemed to please Ana, who rewarded her with a grateful smile.

******

The cafeteria was a beige rectangle of a room with the same rough concrete floor that ran through the rest of the prison. Rotund women in their sixties - lifers who'd been there long enough to take on extra responsibilities - scooped boiled vegetables, unidentifiable meat and other questionable delights onto blue plastic trays. The women then took their food and sat down to eat it with blunt, rubbery utensils. Most of them just used their hands.

While Darien smoked her way through the meal, Maria picked at the vegetables. She was about to put her fork down and give up when she saw the doctor enter the cafeteria.

He was quickly followed by the warden, who placed her hand on his arm as he took a tray. Maria hadn't seen him in any communal area before and his presence reminded her of the fact that he was just another prisoner.

The warden was speaking to him, her murmurs too low to be overheard, and he was nodding, his eyes scanning their surroundings like he was desperate for an escape. Finally, he saw Maria and her nearly entirely untouched tray. Lifting his chin, he raised his eyebrows.

Remembering his request for her to eat, she speared a carrot and shoved it in her mouth. His smile was faint but amused.

Warden Sinclair directed him to the higher table where several staff sat. They had better food, prepared by their own chef, and lovely steaming cups of coffee. The doctor remained beside her as she drank a cup, not engaging with the table, eating his own lunch.

"Gorgeous, isn't he?" Darien sighed, stretching her long limbs and leaning back in her chair. "Too bad he's not in gen-pop. I'd give anything..."

"I heard he's impotent." A shaved-headed girl said from the next table. She wiggled her pinkie. "That's how come they let him stay here. Cos he can't get it up."

"Maybe they snipped it off before he came here!" Maggie chortled, knocking over her cup of water. Because the cup was lightweight plastic, it skipped across their table to the next, spraying its contents over two surly women. They swore, launching to their feet, and a handful of lumpy mash was tossed at Maggie's face.

She screamed and chucked the entire contents of her tray in retaliation. Maria saw Malika grin and nudge Ada. Somebody's meatloaf flew through the air and smacked Darien on the cheek. Within a minute the entire room was a war zone of food. Girls were launching carrots like arrows through the air, beans and sweetcorn turning to sludge on the floor. Screams and laughter intermingled, half of the prison population taking the fight as some fun and the other attacking with serious intent.

Maria ducked under the table and tucked herself in, careful to keep her white blonde hair out of the line of fire. Eventually the warden's voice boomed angrily for silence. Guards began grabbing the worst offenders and dragging them to the showers where they were tossed under a freezing deluge of water.

"Who started this?" The warden demanded, her heels tap tapping across the linoleum as she cut a direct path through the mess. "Mumbazi!" She addressed Malika, who was leaning against the wall, clean and laid-back. "I'm sure you saw what happened."

Malika shrugged. "I wasn't paying attention."

Warden Sinclair snorted, her mouth a thin line of disapproval. "Very well, you can go cool off with the others."

Malika rolled her eyes and strode off to the showers, unbothered.

A hand tapped Maria's shoulder and she peered out from under the table. The doctor was smiling down at her, offering to help her up. His palm was warm and calloused when she touched it, the back of his hand covered in a dusting of dark hair. He pulled her to her feet and swept an errant clump of potato from her shoulder.

"Bambi." The warden's voice turned sugar sweet. "What can you tell me?"

"N...nothing." Maria stuttered. "I didn't see..."

"Showers. Now."

The warden grabbed the doctor by the arm and walked him away. He cast an apologetic glance behind him as Maria was strong-armed out of the cafeteria. She stripped on order and then shivered under the spray with the rest of the blue-tinged inmates. Kleinfeld kept her eye on the clock, adding five minutes to the punishment whenever anyone spoke.

Afterwards they were sent to run laps until they collapsed. When she went to bed that night, Maria sobbed silently into her pillow.


	5. Chapter 5

Two weeks later, Beni was released from solitary. She prowled through the corridors like a long, lean cat, keeping ahead of her escort. They released her into gen-pop like zookeepers warily letting a lion out to play.

Maria, curled on her side in bed, lifted herself onto her elbows to get a better look as an eruption of greetings rang throughout the ward.

Beni was slim and angular, muscle and sinew but no fat. Her dark hair was cut short, a soft fringe sweeping over strong brows and black eyes. She snatched her red scarf from her bedpost and tied it firmly around her forehead before turning to her audience and beaming wickedly.

Niki was at her side in an instant, cooing and complimenting. Ana sauntered over from where she'd been losing a game of cards, swinging her hips in a seductive invitation that Beni seemed only too happy to accept. She slid her long fingered hand into Ana's and led her off to the bathrooms. Catcalls rang out, some girls rattling the bars of their bed frames.

Darien smirked at Maria, fanning herself with the magazine she was reading.

A small, brave, group followed after the two and Maria found herself joining them, tense with curiosity. After being simply a name bandied about between inmates, Beni didn't seem real to her, but there she was on her knees in front of Ana, whose jumpsuit was discarded with her underwear on the floor. The angle wasn't good enough to see exactly what was going on, but the moans were enough to make Maria flush with heat.

One of Beni's hands clutched at the skin of Ana's hip, hard enough to bruise, while the other squeezed a full breast. Her face was hidden, buried between spread legs.

"Beni," Ana gasped. "Beni, I've missed you." She pushed at Beni's tank top, scratching at her shoulders until the other woman paused to yank it off.

The crowd of voyeurs got an eyeful of sharp collarbone, small breasts and washboard abs, before Beni resumed her sensual assault.

Biting her lip, Ana gasped she she looked down. A criss cross of welts striped the skin of Beni's back, some of them scabbed and some more fresh. "What did they do to you in there?" She whispered, grasping Beni's chin and pulling her up to kiss her hungrily. "My poor Beni."

"I can take whatever they dole out," Beni growled. "Don't you fucking worry about me."

She nibbled at Ana's earlobe until Ana begged for things Maria couldn't picture and didn't understand. Two women together was still a mystery to her, despite the things she'd witnessed in the showers and the noises overheard at night.

Suddenly embarrassed, Maria returned to her bed on wobbly legs. She sat, indian-style, on the thin mattress and chewed at her lower lip.

"Thank god," Darien remarked. "I thought Ana was gonna combust if she didn't get a good fucking soon." Wiggling her middle and index fingers suggestively, she cackled at Maria's red face.

"Are they...?"

"What?" Darien cocked her head. "A couple? Kind of, inasmuch as anyone in here can be. Beni plays around, you know, but I think Ana's her favourite. As for Ana...she's gone on Beni. Totally insane for her. Why, you want in?"

It was impossible for Maria to blush any harder than she was. "No! No. I was just wondering..."

"Uh huh."

*******

That afternoon Maria found herself swabbing the floor of the cafeteria alongside Malika. They each had a blue bucket filled with soapy water and a rat-tailed mop. There were drains alongside the walls which they directed the excess water at, and fine-toothed brushes to scrub at the hardest stains.

Malika was efficient, her face tense with concentration. Her ponytail bobbed as she moved, her gait as powerful as a model on a catwalk.

Maria did her best, wiping at her forehead with aching hands and pausing every so often to just breathe.

As she was nearing completion, two giggling inmates walked across the sodden floor carrying a box between them. Their names were unknown to her, but she'd often seen them hanging around with Niki and assumed they were members of Beni's inner circle. They skirted Malika carefully but, upon reaching Maria, stopped to stare.

"Bambi?" One said.

Malika's head turned, watching.

"That's not my name." Maria replied out of habit more than actual feeling. In truth she was growing used to the nickname.

The two exchanged a smirk.

"Beni wants to invite you on our crawl tonight."

"Crawl?"

"That's right. Whaddaya say?"

Her mind raced, lashes fluttering as she thought. For a second she looked to Malika, hoping for guidance, but the other woman's face was unreadable. The idea of doing anything - and whatever could a crawl be? - with Beni filled her with apprehension mixed with a thrill of interest.

"Come on, Bambi, she'll be insulted if you say no."

Insulted? An imaginary flash of a fist aimed at her face made her blink and she swallowed. But how could she look Beni in the eye after she witnessed her intimate embrace with Ana? She was still lightheaded from the sight of it.

Nodding jerkily, she agreed.

They grinned at her and walked away swinging the box.

"You be careful, you hear?" Malika said in the silence.

"Careful?"

The other woman plopped her mop in her bucket and came over to where she was crouched. She knelt down, hand on Maria's arm, and eyes full of concern. "Beni plays with her prey before chewing it up and spitting it out. I'd advise you not to go, but that'll incur her wrath much quicker. Just remember she's nobodies friend, least of all yours."

"Why least of all?" Maria asked faintly.

"You're new, you're naive, you're something she can break. Just watch it."

"Why do you care?" The question came out in a whiny tremble, and Maria wished she'd closed her mouth tight before speaking. Malika was calm like a pond, undisturbed. And she'd declared herself first in command when they'd met. Surely she could protect her from whatever threat Beni posed?

"I'm not a sociopath, like most of the bitches in here." Malika said. "I know all their little games, and the warden's, too. And I'll warn you if no one else will."

"Why are you in here?"

Two neatly arched eyebrows raised. "I killed the man who beat my sister and her baby." Her expression was frank, her tone matter-of-fact. "I went after him with a baseball bat and pounded until his head was nothing but pulp."

So she was a murderer! But it was the kind of murder that could be justified, wasn't it? An eye for an eye, sort of. Maria still recoiled, frightened, but oddly comforted.

"You ain't seen nothing yet, Bambi. You gotta be strong. Beni's gonna come at you, the guards are gonna let her, and the warden's gonna get you if she doesn't. In a few weeks the tournament'll be here and you'll see."

"Tournament?"

"It's how they entertain themselves. The higher-ups come visit and Sinclair puts on a show. You ever seen those old gladiator movies? That's what its like."

"That...can't be true!"

Prison was about justice, about redemption and rehabilitation. It wasn't meant to be some post-apocalyptic nightmare! They weren't - she wasn't - meant to scrap like a dog at their master's command! It was madness, it was nonsense! It had to be nonsense.

But Malika didn't break into a smile or take back her words. She only shrugged.

Kleinfeld appeared in the doorway and Maria ran to her, grabbing at her. "Please, I don't belong here! Please, you have to let me out! Transfer me! Anything!" She began to sob loudly, sliding to the floor as the woman remained stone faced and unyielding. "Oh God, I've done nothing wrong! Please, please, help me!"

Strong hands slipped under her arms and lifted her to her feet.

"Come on, Bambi," Malika said, "we're done here."

Kleinfeld sneered. "You'd best stop your snivelling. I've beaten others for less."

"She'll stop." Malika pushed Maria behind her and, not letting her go, led her back to the ward. "You've got to toughen up." She said as Maria collapsed, limp and tearful, on her bed. "You've got to."


	6. Chapter 6

Cloudy plumes of cigarette smoke filled the toilet cubicle. Ana took a deep drag and breathed it all out, her head tilted back against the dingy tile wall. She could hear Niki giggling a few stalls over and some of the others were chatting by the sinks.

It was the darkest hour of the night, that wonderful stretch of time where there was nothing to do but give into whatever desire she had. Dawn would arrive bright and rude, as it always did, but until then....

"Ah, Niki, c'mon!"

Ana's ears pricked up at the pain lacing Beni's cry. Rolling her eyes, she tossed the butt of her cigarette in the toilet bowl and kicked the door open. Striding to the cubicle where Niki was heavy-handedly administering ointment to Beni's wounds, she knocked the stringy blonde out of the way and took over.

Beni's back - strong, with shoulder-blades that flexed like hidden wings (and Beni was no angel, any wings she had would be black as tar) - was a crimson mess. More of the scabs had opened up, because she never would rest and heal, and blood was gathering in ruby globs.

Ana bent down and licked a stripe, tasting the salty-sweet metallic essence of Beni's life.

"Ugh." Niki said, grimacing.

Smiling with reddened teeth, Ana did it again and again until the wounds were clean. Then she snatched the ointment and took over the application. They had a sheet torn into scraps ready to bandage nearly the entirety of her back, and she wound it lovingly around Beni until it resembled a vest.

Beni stood, stretched, and pulled her tank on over it. Her jumpsuit was tied low on her hips, the sleeves fashioned into a belt, so it slouched like faded denim. She lit her own cigarette and smiled, her wide mouth full of sharp white teeth.

Ana stared into her eyes, drowning in the obsidian depths.

"You're a sick little bitch, aren't you?" Beni asked, not needing an answer. Her thumb roughly swiped along Ana's lower lip to gather up the remnants of blood. Unwilling to let it go to waste, Ana grabbed that thumb and sucked it clean.

"Ben-Ben!" Irene - the gamin girl - called from her perch on a sink. "Come on! I'm dying here!"

Beni smirked. "Okay, okay. Someone get that new girl, then we'll go."

Ana frowned. She didn't want Maria to come. All that flaxen hair, doe eyed innocence was a thorn in her side, as she had known it would be, since the moment Beni returned from solitary.

"She won't come." She said, praying it was true.

Beni raised an eyebrow, amused, and Ana's jealousy swirled inside her. If she could mark her territory like a cat, she would. But Beni would never allow it. How many times had she told Ana, as they lay together after sex, that she belonged to no one.

Maria appeared in the yellow light of the bathroom like a fine little fairy with gossamer hair. Insubstantial, soft and virtuous.

Ana looked down at her own, significantly bigger, breasts, chestnut hair and body explored by Beni in every way possible, and scowled. She knew she was gorgeous, her figure a pleasing hourglass...but she wasn't new.

Maria glanced around at everyone like she was waiting for a strike. They all stared back, Niki sneering, and finally her fluttering eyes fell on Beni.

"You ready, Bambi?" Beni asked, slinging her arm around the girl's shoulders.

"Where are we going?"

"Crawling." Niki drawled. "Creeping and crawling."

One of the others knelt down and stuck their fingers into the grate that covered the large drain in the middle of the floor. She lifted it, the metal groaning, and pushed it aside. They all stared down into the dark, dank hole.

"You first." Ana said, pushing Maria from the back.

She wobbled, teetering on the edge. Beni grabbed her. Ana sulked, hanging back as her lover sent her a warning look.

"I'll go first." Beni said. "You follow me, all right, Bambi?"

Maria nodded apprehensively.

As slick as a snake, Beni dropped down into the sewer below. Maria sat down, feeding her legs in first, and then let out a gasping scream as she fell. Ana jumped down after, then Niki, and then the others.

The tunnels were sludgy underfoot, the walls damp with rot, and they stank horribly. Ana knew them like the back of her hand, having explored them many a time. Beni was the one who'd discovered them while searching for some way to escape but, after five long years, she gave up that hope.

While they offered no way out of the prison, they did give the inmates a place to roam. They could walk under rooms, climb rusting ladders to passages inside walls and reach places that were forbidden, like the infirmary. Which was where they were currently headed.

********

Maria stumbled, her shoes sliding in the wet debris. Beni gripped her elbow, guiding her, and she shivered. Her whole being was tense in anticipation of something, though she didn't know what. The powerful aura that surrounded and emanated from the taller woman was insidious. She felt herself longing to run from it and yet desperate to linger and leech from it.

Turning to her, Beni smiled. "I bet you're afraid of me." She said it like a foregone conclusion. "I know how the hens in here like to cluck. But I'm not that bad, Bambi, not if I like you. And I do."

"W...why?"

"Oh, I have my reasons." They stopped by a ladder and Beni stroked a lock of her hair, eyes glittering. "Now, up you go." She lifted Maria onto the ladder and pushed her buttocks gently.

They crawled, single file, through a thick and narrow vent.

"Pop the grate out at the end." Beni said.

It fell and landed with a soft thump on the medical bed below. They all filtered out until they were standing as a group the the shadowy infirmary. The smell of antiseptic was potent. In the corner of the room, beside an eye chart, the doctor's jacket hung like a ghost from a hook.

"Oh, Doctor Gabriel!" Niki flung herself back on the bed, assuming a dramatic pose. "I'm afraid my vagina needs a good check up. No, you don't have to wear your gloves, just put your bare fingers right inside!" She cackled at her own antics, encouraged when her audience snickered in response.

"Beni, Ben-Ben, where is it, huh? Where?"

"You oughta know yourself by now," Beni said pointedly to the gamin girl, "I've brought you here often enough."

"Ah but no one sticks that needle in like you." The girl was bouncing, eyes alight with excitement.

Maria found herself drawn to the doctor's coat. It was rough to the touch and it smelled like a man, like nothing else in this place did. She longed to know why Gabriel was in prison. Part of her fancied that, like herself, he was an innocent wrongly convicted.

Drawers opened and closed and cupboards squeaked as they were raided. The rattling of pill bottles was a sound effect for the shaking of her bones as she nervously watched the thievery take place.

A long moan directed her attention to the gamin girl, who was leaning against the wall with her head thrown back while Beni pushed the needle of a syringe into her arm. As Beni pressed down and released the liquid into her purpling veins, the girl groaned and shuddered.

"Me next!" Niki said, all but shoving her way in.

Beni, striking in the opaque light, obliged. She refilled the same syringe, uncaring, and Niki stuck her arm out with the vein throbbing in readiness.

"What is it?" Maria whispered.

"Morphine." Ana replied. "It's a dream high. Euphoric."

Suddenly she grabbed Maria's arm and yanked her forward. Maria struggled, protesting, but Ana wouldn't let go.

"Bambi wants to try." She said.

Beni considered her. Maria looked at that face - that magnetic face and those enticing dark eyes - and gasped like a fish. When the needle went in she squeaked, her body stiffening against Ana who hummed in response.

Beni tossed the syringe in the bin and reached back into the drawer she'd taken it from. Her hand closed around a white pill bottle.

"What is that?" Ana asked.

Beni only laughed. "Something for later. Have you got everything, girls?" She addressed the room. "Shall we go?"

Maria was woozy, all tension oozing from her body until she was almost limp. It felt good, it felt like floating.

The door handle rattled.

"Shit!" Niki cried, hopping up onto the bed and into the vent. The others followed quickly, hoisting themselves up as the sound of a key scraping in the lock made them breathless.

Beni waited for Maria and stuck out a hand to help her up but, just as she was beginning to climb, the door opened and an arm wrapped itself around her waist. She was pulled down to the floor and Beni....

...Beni was gone, crawling away with the rest of them.


	7. Chapter 7

"Careful."

The hands on her waist steadied her and turned her around.

Maria blinked.

"You're lucky its me." Gabriel said, releasing her.

He went over to the cupboards, inspecting them, and clicked his tongue in annoyance when he realised what was missing.

"I didn't peg you for an addict." He frowned at her.

Maria swayed, too lightheaded to really focus on him. "I'm not." She mumbled. "I just came with them. Beni, she...she injected me..."

Shaking his head, Gabriel led her over to a chair and sat her down. He sat opposite her, his hair sleep-rumpled and eyes tired.

"Beni? I thought you'd have more sense than to get involved with her."

She didn't like the judgement in his voice. Who was he - a criminal role playing as a legitimate worker - to say who she should and shouldn't be friends with. But he was so attractive. Her morphine-addled mind wouldn't stop thinking that. Those ocean eyes were huge and bright in his rugged masculine face.

"I'm not going to tell on you," he said suddenly, "if you're worried. I never do. That's why Beni gets away with this shit."

"Why?"

"I guess I'm a softie. I don't like the way the warden doles out punishment in here. Better for me to keep her happy and replace what they took." A shadow passed across his face. "It's not easy. She always wants more and more from me...more than I can give..."

"What?" Maria could see his lips moving, but couldn't keep up with what he was saying. She felt relaxed, blissful and uncaring of whatever was disturbing him.

He smiled sadly at her.

"I need to get you back downstairs before anyone notices you're gone."

The chair was comfortable and she liked his presence.

"Can't I stay here?"

Gabriel laughed. "If only." He stood and lifted her to her feet. She fell into his body, pressed against his chest, and buried her face in the bare skin of his shoulder. He held her for a moment, sighing, and then coaxed her to move.

In the hallways he kept her quiet, and pushed her into crevices and shadows whenever a guard passed by on patrol. He didn't bother to hide himself, even nodding in greeting to whoever he saw.

When they arrived at the doors of the ward, he took a packet of something out of the pocket of his trousers, knocked, and gave it to the night-guard with an incline of his head.

The guard stared at Maria knowingly as she was pushed through the entry room and then into the ward. The scrape of the metal bars and the clanging of the keys was enough to wake the rest of the inmates. The beds belonging to Beni, Ana, Niki and the others were conspicuously empty.

Keeping her head down, Maria walked to her bed and lay on her side. She saw Malika's eyes gleaming in the dark and blushed.

*******

Gabriel returned to the infirmary, thinking he was in the clear. Warden Sinclair, glad in some sultry lace thing, her green uniform jacket hanging open, greeted him with a smug smile as he entered.

The drawers were open. The syringe was back out of the bin where it had been tossed and the grate was still lying on the bed.

"What's been going on here?" Sinclair asked, deceptively calm.

Gabriel replaced the grate over the vent. "Nothing."

"Nothing? I can count, beautiful. Half of the latest delivery is missing." Her hands slid over his shoulders and down his chest, pinching to see him wince. "Tell me who it was, darling, let me see to them."

He could feel her desire like an itch; her desire to hurt whatever inmate she could through violence and humiliation. It sickened him.

"I had to throw some of it away," he lied, "half the stuff was bad. Some of it had leaked."

The slap was hard and it forced his head back, stinging his cheek and jaw. He'd expected it, but the brutality always surprised him.

"You'll be needing more then?" She rubbed at the mark she'd left.

He nodded.

Sinclair smirked, knowing she had him. "Take off your clothes. All of them."

"I won't..."

"Oh, I know. Believe me, I'm saving that for when I really want to break you. Now, strip."

He obeyed, removing his tank, his trousers and his boxers and piling them neatly on the floor. She circled him, studying every curve of bone, every muscle and sinew, and every scar she could find. "Bend over." The order was a breathy whisper in his ear.

He assumed the demeaning position and waited, but she only looked and looked and looked.

"If I had a cock I'd fuck you right now." She slapped him again, this time across his buttocks.

A small cry left him.

"Stand up. Get yourself off for me."

He jerked himself with quick, perfunctory motions, refusing to enjoy it. She took pleasure in his torment, caressing her own breasts and darting her tongue out to wet her lips. "Come on, angel, I want to see you."

Closing his eyes, he felt the pressure build and hurried himself along, wanting nothing more than to go and wash all the dirt off his skin.

She laughed as he came. "It doesn't matter, you know. If I can't punish one, I'll punish them all." She kissed him, biting at his mouth, and then left.

Gabriel sat down on the cold floor, knees up and head bent to rest on them, and gritted his teeth against the scream that wanted to escape.


	8. Chapter 8

The island was small, barely more than an unsightly lump of rock in the middle of a constantly roiling sea. The only building was the prison - the dull grey concrete fortress - but behind it there was an amount of flattish land the size of a small sports pitch. On that land a large pit was being dug.

Whenever there was a significant number of inmates to be taken to task, Warden Sinclair ordered them out to the pit where, loosely chained together and outfitted with spades, they were told to dig.

The morning after the crawl, the warden stood in front of a ward full of sleepy inmates with her hands on her hips, and shoulders squared.

"It has come to my attention that several items were stolen from the infirmary last night. While I may turn a blind eye to some nighttime shenanigans, I cannot accept thievery." Her gaze fell on Beni, who was smoking while reclined in bed. "Unfortunately I don't know who is responsible, but that doesn't matter. If I call your name you will get up, get dressed, and line up here."

Niki was vibrating, leaning so far off her bed that she was almost on the floor. "Fuck, fuck...fucking bitch..."

"Niki?" The warden looked at her. "Get up and come here." She glanced imperiously around the room, enjoying how the weakest inmates trembled and drew in on themselves. "Ana, Irene, Sarah, Gia, Malika, Ada, and, of course, Beni." She smiled. "That you were involved I have no doubt."

As the chosen prisoners scrambled to dress, she approached the end of Maria's bed and hit the frame with her baton. "You, too, Bambi."

Something in her face made Maria's stomach turn. She wondered if Gabriel had ratted her out, even though he'd said he wouldn't.

When they were all ready, manacles were placed around their waists and locked. Then a heavy chain was threaded through them until they were like some shuffling, mechanical centipede.

Sinclair, Kleinfeld, and several other guards hustled them out of the prison and into the blinding sun. Maria shielded her eyes, stopping short and causing Malika to bump into her.

"Move it, Bambi."

"Fuck this shit." Ada muttered, earning herself a whack from a baton. "Man, me and Malika had nothing to do with it!"

"Quiet!" Kleinfeld snapped.

The day passed in silent, sweaty exertion. None of them were permitted a break, much less a sip of water. Maria's hands were bloody from the occasional scrape of rock, her shoes were torn on the soles, and her back ached with bending to dig. At one point she caught Beni watching her, eyes intense, and she chewed at her lip nervously.

"What the hell is this hole for?" Niki spat in frustration as the sun lowered in the sky. "What the fuck we digging this for?"

Since Warden Sinclair had long disappeared inside, it was only Kleinfeld who answered: "One day when you step too far out of line you might find out."

"Is that a threat?" Niki was like a live-wire, sparking and hissing. "I got rights, even here. I got them."

Kleinfeld levelled with her, sneering. "Listen, you little crack whore, shut your mouth and keep digging, or you'll be in solitary faster than you can blink."

Beni placed a firm hand on Niki's shoulder and the blonde's snarling receded to a scowl as she resumed her task.

Maria's stomach growled and Ana's echoed hers in sympathy. She dreamed about smoked salmon and tossed salads with chicken and pasta alla genovese. Peter often took her out to restaurants and clubs and she enjoyed walking in on his arm. He knew everyone and they were always happy to see him. She missed champagne soaked nights spent with friends, dancing and talking and then walking home through the midnight streets and kissing Peter in the elevator up to the penthouse.

"Are you sleeping?" Ana nudged her.

Maria shook herself. "No. Just remembering."

"Well, remember to dig while you're at it." A moment later: "What were you remembering?"

"My life. How it was. My fiancé. He's going to get me out, you know."

Ana's disbelief was evident. "Oh, yeah? How's that?"

"I don't know. I'm not good with all that stuff...law and whatever else. He is. He's clever. Smarter than me. We went on vacation together to this lovely trio of tropical islands. The beaches were white, the sea was turquoise and the cocktails were the kind with umbrellas and fruit on the side, you know?"

Ana didn't know. She trawled the streets of her city in a blue minidress with a slit up the thigh and took customers up to the room she rented. She didn't know anything about island holidays or fruity alcohol.

"He went home first, the day before me, because he had some business thing. We had a party planned for the night of my return, but it never happened. I was arrested on landing."

"Why?"

Maria's face crumpled. "Drugs. I don't know how they got there! But no one believes me!"

Beni and Malika shared, for once, a knowing glance.

"I hate to break your heart, Bambi," Beni said gently, "but your boyfriend wont get you out of here. He won't even try."

Maria gaped at her. "What? Why?"

"You were a mule." Malika said. "He was using you."

A baton whacked Malika hard on the back of the neck. Kleinfeld was back, two other guards at her side. "Shower time, ladies. Lets go."

Maria had to force herself to move. She felt like she'd been hit smack in the face by Kleinfeld's baton, even though she hadn't. It couldn't be true! Peter loved her, he'd never use her like that! But Malika and Beni had sounded so certain, so matter-of-fact. And they were criminals, weren't they? They knew about these things.

Malika and Ada took the shower heads on either side of her, soaping their strong bodies. "Come on, Bambi, don't look so sad."

"He wouldn't!" Maria protested. Her hands curled, nails digging into her palms. "You don't know him!"

"He's a man, isn't he?" Beni said across the way. "They'd fuck over their own mothers if it served their interest."

"What would you know about men?" Ana laughed, shutting her mouth at the answering glare.

Naked, lean and angular, Beni came to share Maria's shower. "Next time you get phone privileges, you ask him. Don't let him bullshit you. Tell him you know. I'd bet you anything he's guilty."

Maria closed her eyes and let the spray wash the dirt from her face. The next thing she felt was Beni's long fingers stroking over her collarbone. Blinking wide, she opened her mouth as the other woman drew closer. The fingers tickled their way down her sternum, nails short and ragged, and paused between her breasts. Beni smiled.

"Breathe, Bambi." she said.

"For God's sake leave her alone." Malika turned off her shower and shoved her way between them. Maria followed her gratefully, aware of Ana's furious gaze. Her skin tingled where it had been touched and she tried to quell the sensation by thinking of Peter, but it didn't work.

Beni's intensity intrigued her. She'd never met another woman who could make her respond in that way. And Beni had been perfectly nice to her. All the build up, all the warnings seemed silly now.

That night, deprived of food and brain turning with thoughts of Peter, Maria lay awake. She listened to the snores and murmurs of the other inmates, the creaking of the bedsprings as they moved, and the far off occasional chatter of the guards. She heard Beni groan and watched as a dark figure sat on the other woman's bed. There wasn't enough light to make out a face, but she knew it must be Ana when the figure leant to kiss Beni bruisingly on the mouth. Soon they were writhing together, Ana making high little gasps as they rocked against each other. Maria tucked her own hand between her legs but didn't move it. She just lay, watching the shifting of shadowy shapes, and bit her lip. "She doesn't know who you are," she heard Ana whisper, "I do. I do." Beni only laughed, the springs squeaking as they pushed at each other harder.


	9. Chapter 9

A dark skinned girl with long, straight brown hair approached Maria's bed. She lingered silently for a moment, unnervingly still, and then said: "Do you want to come to the library with me?"

Maria dropped the torn half of a magazine Darien had given her.

"Library?"

"Sure. Where do you think these things come from?" She pointed to the magazine and smiled.

Frankly, Maria hadn't thought about it at all.

"I go every month and put books back, take out new ones, and pick up magazines. The girls give me requests, if they have any. Here, today, Malika wants something by Stephen King."

"Not the fucking Shining." Malika yelled.

"I pick someone to go with me each time. It's quicker that way."

"Hurry up, Arden." A guard barked, waiting at the gate with a trolley full of books.

Maria decided to go. She could use a break and the other woman was nice and friendly. She'd seen her a few times reading with tortoiseshell glasses and scribbling in notebooks. She always seemed to be on the edges of things, watching but never participating.

The library was on the third floor and they had to take a rusty old warehouse style elevator to get there. It was a big room filled with boxy metal shelves that were stuffed to the brim with worn, tatty old novels.

"I'm Emanuelle Arden," the girl said as they wheeled the trolley inside. 

"Emmanuelle?" Maria repeated. "Like the book?"

A bright smile crossed the girl's face. "No. There's only one 'm' in my name. We've got a copy of that, though, if you feel like something naughty."

They both giggled. Emanuelle produced a piece of paper and unfolded it to reveal a detailed list. She tore it in half. "They're all in alphabetical order. You get these ones and I'll get these."

To Maria's surprise the guard, who was a grey haired matron type, switched on a small radio. The sound of fuzzy pop music filled the room and its cheerful beat and nonsense lyrics made her bop her head while she scoured the shelves. She pulled out a copy of The Dark Half and saw Emanuelle through the gap. They grinned at each other, sunlight casting stripes of gold across them through the barred windows.

"How are you finding it in here?" Emanuelle asked.

Maria shrugged. "I don't know." Peter's face appeared in her minds eye, handsome and aristocratic, and she squeezed her eyes shut to push it away. "I didn't know what to expect, so I don't really have any reason to be happy or disappointed. I mean, its prison."

They moved away from each other, gathering books in their arms and depositing them on a new, empty, cart. Maria encountered several spiders spinning their webs across stretches of steel. At one point, as she knelt to reach a low shelf, a mouse scurried out of her way and she shrieked.

When they had all they needed, Emanuelle lifted a pile of shiny magazines from a table near the door and took them, too. They were a mixture of fashion and lifestyle, news and human interest, and thicker volumes full of word puzzles.

Back in the ward they were immediately surrounded. Emanuelle handed out each requested book and then left the rest to be chosen. For a few hours at least, there was peace and quiet.

********

Malika knocked on the door of the infirmary before the guard could. She knew it was petty, but she preferred to do it for herself. When Gabriel opened it and let her in, she held her breath until the door was closed.

"How are you?" Gabriel asked, stethoscope around his neck and clipboard ready and waiting.

She hopped up onto the bed and stuck out her left leg. Around a month ago, Beni had shanked her in the thigh and the wound had oozed blood and puss for weeks. It was mostly healed now, and she was ready to take the bandage off once and for all.

Gabriel rolled up the leg of her jumpsuit, his hands cold against her skin, and then unwound the gauze. His forehead crinkled as he checked her over, smoothing the reddened, swollen skin.

"Whaddaya think?" She asked.

His smile was quick, but there. "It's healing nicely. Time to let it breathe a bit. I want you to apply this cream daily, it'll prevent scarring and discolouration." He gave her a little pot with a screw lid.

"Do you think I'll be in fighting condition by the time the tournament begins?"

He sighed. "If I said you weren't and I told the warden you shouldn't...you'd do it anyway."

"Hey, I gotta work off all this stress somehow." There were few things she enjoyed more than beating Beni to a pulp and winning privileges for it. True, the whole affair was deplorable. Being forced to scrap like animals for the warden's sick amusement didn't please her any, but there was something freeing about getting the green light to let loose.

She noticed a sallow tint to Gabriel's skin and wondered if he was sick. Perhaps he'd also been punished for Beni's stupid raid on the infirmary. "You brought Bambi back to the ward the other night." She stated, remembering.

"I did."

"She's going to get crushed in the fights."

He nodded. "Yes." There was a sadness permeating his reply.

"You like her?"

He swallowed and she watched his Adam's apple move. He needed a shave. "I don't want to see her hurt. I don't like to see any of you hurt."

Malika bared her teeth. "Sure, cause you just love us all."

"Maybe not Beni," he conceded. Like a gentleman, he unrolled her jumpsuit leg and helped her down.

"You look after yourself, Doc." She said before leaving.

********

Maria sat on one of the low benches in the yard. Darien was on her left, smoking and holding court with a couple of others, and Emanuelle was on her right. Malika, Ada, and two tall, muscular women were bouncing a ball around, hollering at each other. The sun was high in the sky and there was not a fluff of cloud to be seen in the vast blue.

"It was sick!" Darien was saying. "He had a goddamn diaper on! I told him no way, no dice. There's places I won't go, even for five hundred."

"And that was the worst?" Maggie asked.

"Well, yeah. Oh, apart from the businessman who hired me to blow him under the dinner table...while the rest of his family was eating fucking turkey and talking about..."

Maria's attention drifted, tuning her out. She watched the muscles work in Malika's calves and thighs, watched her feet dance across the cracked tarmac. Ada caught her around the waist, pinching, and stole the ball. Seagulls swooped, their calls high and piercing. There was the slightest of breezes, an ebbing and flowing breath of air against her skin. Stretching, she turned her face to the sun in the hope of absorbing at least some of its rays.

"I've been in other prisons." Emanuelle said, startling her. "They weren't like this. This is by far the worst." She noted something in her book.

"Other prisons?" Maria echoed.

A flash of teeth. "Don't I look like a hardened criminal?"

"Not really."

Something secretive played about Emanuelle's mouth. "I heard rumours about this place for years. Do you know that most who end up here never get out? In fact, its easier to leave here in a body bag than it is as a free woman."

"But Darien was out."

"And came back. Who's to say, now?"

Darien was oblivious to the ominous tone, still chatting away.

The door to the yard opened and the warden stepped out accompanied by a silver-haired man in his late fifties or sixties. He was tall and solid, an imposing presence. His importance was suggested in the squareness of his jaw, the way he moved, and the quality of the suit he wore.

"That's the governor," Emanuelle said, eyes narrowing. "Robert G. Ballard."

The warden was speaking, pointing out various inmates. Ballard's interest was evident as he nodded along.

"He comes to visit every couple of months. Stays a week or so then leaves once he's got what he came for."

"What's that?" Maria felt a shiver run up her spine.

"I'm not fully certain, yet. Sex, definitely, but..."

"Sex?"

"Think of it this way. The prison is a brothel, the warden's our pimp, and he's the paying customer. But I think there's something more than that."

Ballard began to walk out into the yard. He passed by the small, scattered groups and smiled benignly at them. He stopped to admire the game taking place and then turned to where Maria sat. He zeroed in on her like a hawk, nothing readable in his expression, and she found herself clutching at Emanuelle's arm.

Suddenly a hand snaked down Maria's chest and grabbed her breast, squeezing. A tongue licked at her jaw, teeth catching on her earlobe, and she dazedly looked up to see Beni crowding close behind her.

Ballard frowned, marching quickly back to the warden. They both went inside.

Maria let out a hitching gasp and Beni released her, stalking away.

"Wait!" Maria trailed after her, face flushed and head dizzy.

Beni turned, smirking.

"What...why...?"

Everyone was staring at them, the ball left to roll to a stop.

"I did you a favour, Bambi. Don't worry about it."

Ana appeared then, animosity coming off her in waves. She slithered between them and hooked her arms around Beni's shoulders, nipping at her lips and then glaring as Maria failed to leave.

"Maybe she wants his big fat cock." Ana lifted her chin. "Maybe she's ungrateful."

For the first time, Maria glimpsed the part of Beni she'd been warned away from. The other woman's face turned nasty, anger painting it frighteningly white despite the radiant sun. "Do you?" The question was accusatory.

"What? N...no...no I just..." Words wouldn't come.

She felt someone tugging her away and saw Darien. "Come on."

The bell rang to signal the end of their recreation time. One by one the inmates filed inside. Maria saw the warden and Ballard observing their re-entry from a window and her heart began to race.

"If you look like a scared rabbit you're gonna get caught by a fox." Malika told her as they headed for the laundry. "You need to work on that."


	10. Chapter 10

"Maggie Reilly?"

It was the middle of the night and she was now wide awake. Standing over her, looming like a spectre, was Kleinfeld. Her face was an absurd mockery in the tenebrous light, her smile painted on like a Thalia mask.

Maggie clutched at her threadbare blanket like it was a shield, but it was easily ripped from her.

"Get up. Follow me."

"I don't want to."

Kleinfeld wasn't about to care. Her thick sausage fingers wrapped around Maggie's wrist and she dragged her to her feet. Her baton swung and delivered a hit right in the stomach. Doubling over in shock, tears forming, Maggie knew she'd get worse if she resisted again.

She was marched through corridors and up stairs wearing only her panties and vest. It was icy cold and goose pimples erupted on her arms and legs. Apprehension built in her chest until it was a solid lump in her throat, threatening to choke her.

"You've won a date with the governor." Kleinfeld announced unpleasantly, looking her prisoner's skinny body with distaste. "Can't imagine that you'll be enough to satisfy him, but you can try."

"Please." It was futile. Kleinfeld was not moved.

"Count yourself lucky it's just him tonight. You can't imagine the state you girls are left in when he's got friends along."

She rapped on the door and, when it clicked open, she shoved Maggie through.

It was a big room. There was a double bed with downy pillows and soft covers and - Maggie swallowed audibly - restraints hanging from the head of the bed frame. There was also some strange black leather chair with buckles that made her hiccup a sob, and a large, bubbling, bath.

Ballard stood in the middle of it all holding a glass of whiskey. He sipped at it, his eyes like coal in the furnace of his face. He looked like a demon. Maggie opened her mouth but she had nothing to say, nothing that he would listen to.

"Take off your clothes and get in the bath." The command was uttered in a voice that came from the gravelly pit of hell.

Shaking, she peeled off her skimpy sleepwear and stepped into the tub as he pulled off his jacket and tie. The water was scalding, his touch was an acidic drag against her skin. He was going to make her scream, she knew it.

********

"Where the fuck is Maggie?" Darien asked at breakfast, digging her spoon into the bowl of oatmeal and gulping it down fast enough that she didn't have to taste it. The rest of the table shrugged in response.

"Maybe she's sick?" Irene suggested, twisting in her seat at the next table.

"She's been gone two days. She was fine before."

"It's no mystery." Malika said. "You know who's visiting."

Ballard had only come once during Darien's last stint at the prison and she'd had no interaction with him, nor spoken to anyone who had, but she'd heard the gossip and seen a bed cleared for an inmate who'd never returned.

Malika's countenance was dour. "So close to the tournament, too. Half of us will be fighting at a disadvantage, if not relegated to the sick rooms."

She stopped talking when she spied Beni, who was sauntering into the cafeteria like she owned the place. Maria was by the food trays, getting her bowl of porridge and cup of whatever. Beni walked right up to her and pressed herself against the little blonde's back. She whispered something right into her ear.

Darien cast a hopeless glance at Malika.

"She'll get what she wants," she remarked, "she always does."

The slam of a tray on the table made them jump. Ana threw herself onto the bench, a scowl ruining the symmetry of her face. "That stupid bitch doesn't know what she's doing." She meant Maria.

"You have got to get a grip." Malika pointed her spoon. "Beni doesn't care about you, she can't care."

"That's what you think..."

"DeJesus!" A guard bellowed.

Beni turned on her heel, slinking like a panther. One heavy black brow raised so high it met the red silk of the scarf tied around her head.

"Sinclair wants to see you."

Beni's lips curled. "I'll bet." She stuck a cigarette in her mouth and waited, smirking, until the guard sighed and lit it for her. Then they were gone and the whole room was buzzing.

********

The handcuffs snapped into place around her wrists. Beni shrugged. It didn't matter; she could still smoke.

"That's cos of what happened last time." The guard - Parisy - intoned.

A couple of months ago, upon being similarly summoned, Beni had taken hold of the warden by the neck and pressed down until there were bruises blooming under her fingers. It had given her a wonderful rush of adrenaline. Plus Sinclair had worn high-necked tops beneath her uniform for a few weeks after.

"Yeah, yeah. What's she want this time?"

Parisy frowned. "The warden will tell you, not me." She knocked on the office door.

"Send her in!" The warden ordered.

Beni sat in the chair opposite the warden's desk, slouching with her legs spread wide. The rough plastic scraped against the wounds on her back but she didn't flinch. In fact, she enjoyed the pain.

"What can I do for you, mama?"

Sinclair pursed her lips peevishly. "I suppose treating me with respect is too much to expect of you."

"Right."

The warden changed tack, her eyes suddenly alight. "How's your back?" She asked archly.

Memories of being spread out, naked, chained to the wall, flashed through Beni's brain, raising the hair on her neck. The whip, knotted and salted, had cut swathes in her skin in an effort to make her scream, wielded by the woman who now sat smiling across from her.

"I'd take my clothes off and show you, but..." Beni raised her hands, drawing attention to the cuffs, and shrugged. "Nice of you to keep the doctor away."

Sinclair wetted her lips, nostrils flaring. "We both know its in his interest to treat you as little as possible."

"Aw, c'mon, I wouldn't hurt the Doc." Beni imagined him with his throat slit, blood gushing over the white of his coat. "I bet he'd like it, though."

Sinclair cleared her throat. "Perhaps. But I wouldn't."

Blowing out a cloud of smoke, Beni sighed. "You didn't haul me all the way up here to talk shit. What do you want?" She was bored now.

"Maria Randall." Sinclair leant forward, steepling her hands. "Governor Ballard seems to think you have some claim on her."

Bambi. Beni thrilled just thinking of her porcelain skin and shining hair. Even the grey uniforms couldn't hide her. She wanted to devour that pink mouth, pluck out those wide eyes and expose them to every horrible, dirty thing that she could. Her innocence was a turn on, her shyness was a come hither stare. God had done a bad, bad thing dropping such an angel in amongst demons.

"What's it to him?"

"Don't be obtuse." The warden scoffed. "You know."

"Right. She gets his dick hard. I can relate. But she's mine."

"Does she know that?"

If she didn't yet, she would soon. All that beguiling naivety wouldn't be hard to get into bed. It was just that Beni, like all predators, enjoyed the chase as well.

"I give you one girl, one, to yourself. One that he won't touch. Miss Visalia's benefited from that for the last few years. Am I to understand that she is no longer under your protection?"

Ana was a wildcat, her lusts almost as dark and deep as Beni's own, and she was loyal to a fault, even when treated badly. And Beni had been treating her badly, that she could admit. But however hard she hit, Ana always came running back.

"He wants Maria." Sinclair said simply.

"Wanting isn't getting." She knew what was being implied. It was one or the other; Ana or Maria. For anyone else it might have been a difficult choice, but Beni was blessedly free of complex emotion. "Maria's mine."

Sinclair rolled her shoulders, pushing her breasts against the straining buttons of her uniform. She licked her lips. "Well. That's that, then. Do you have anything for me?"

Beni shook her head. "All quiet on the homefront, mama. Couple of girls dreaming of escape - something about digging - they won't go through with it." As if they could dig through solid fucking rock.

"Keep an eye on it."

If her hands were free she would've saluted. She stood up instead. Sinclair accompanied her to the door but, before turning the knob, she pressed Beni into the wood and pushed her face inbetween her shoulder blades. Then she bit her. The pain was intense, shooting like fireworks, despite the layers of fabric.

"Mmmm." Sinclair touched the place she'd just bitten. "You're bleeding." Crimson on grey, seeping slowly in a smudge of red.

Beni looked back at her, eyes lidded. "Are you done?"

"Yes. For now."

Then there was a closed door between them and Parisy was unlocking the cuffs to escort her back to gen-pop.


	11. Chapter 11

It was spring cleaning week. That was the name sarcastically given to the time of year when the prisoners were tasked with picking weeds from the yard, clearing mulch from the gutters and scrubbing bird shit off the walls and windows. Niki and Maria were up a ladder, precariously perched as they used sponges to remove the yellow-white faeces.

It was a disgusting task. The water in their bucket was as dirty as the windowpane and their hands were just as bad.

"You know what they say, hey, Bambi?" Niki nudged her with a bony elbow. "You can't polish a turd." She sniggered, thin lips peeling back. "I don't know why we fucking bother."

"It does seem pointless." Maria agreed. But there was a nice peace to being up so high that she could see the waves rolling beyond the fortress walls. At the same time, because no other land was visible on the horizon, it was also very eerie and lonely.

Niki was a talkative work partner, and she rattled on about all the drugs she'd ever tried and their effects and whether or not she recommended them. She also spoke a lot about her days holding up corner stores and pizza parlours with the gang she ran with.

"I accidentally shot a guy," she said sheepishly, "I mean, shit, I didn't think I'd kill him. Was aiming for a kneecap but my hands shake a lot, y'know. Got him right square between the eyes. 'Course the jury thought I meant it. Why'd he have to chase me anyway? All I stole was a couple'a smokes and some beers. Fucking moron."

Maria attacked a particularly stubborn stain. Niki's indignation nearly made her laugh, but she was too horrified to let herself.

"Anyway, I was in a different lockup at first, but I bit some bitch right in her jugular and they sent me here."

"Why did you bite her?"

"I was in withdrawal. She was mouthing off. I guess I got mad."

"I FOUND A TOOTH!" Darien yelled down below, holding it up like a trophy.

"That's mine!" Another inmate yelled. "Ada knocked it out last time we went one to one. I wonder if the Doc can put it back in?"

There was a chorus of laughter.

Niki bared her own damaged teeth. "If it was a gold tooth, that would be something."

Timidly, Maria decided to broach the subject on her mind. "I was wondering what Beni was in for...I mean, if you can tell me..." She cringed at the look on the other woman's face. "I don't mean to be nosy."

"Oh, you do. That's okay. Beni..." Niki blew out a noisy sigh. "She'd probably like to tell you herself."

"Oh."

"Well, she killed a lotta guys. And maybe they deserved it. That's all I'm gonna say. You can ask her, though. She likes you."

Maria was beginning to believe it. Beni's attention was overt but sporadic. The heat of it made her feel unreasonably bereft when it was diverted elsewhere, like a houseplant drooping when the blinds were drawn.

"Randall! Ramirez! Are you two finished yet?" Kleinfeld stood at the bottom of the ladder, her arms folded.

They had to lower the bucket - which was attached to a string on a pulley - carefully to the ground before climbing down after it. Kleinfeld sneered at the state of them. "Go clean up."

"Oh fuck!" Darien exclaimed as they left the yard. "Is this a goddamn fingertip?"

***********

The side table was bare, the sparse items that usually adorned it swept to the floor. Ada sat on one side, Niki on the other. Their hands were clasped, elbows firmly on the table, black against white, as they both attempted to slam the other's knuckles against the wood.

Malika was kneeling on the bed behind Ada, massaging the muscles of her shoulders like a trainer would for a boxer in the ring.

Niki's arm, which had no more muscle or fat than a twig, bulged with a crisscross of veins as she refused to back down.

"You've been practicing," Ada grinned.

"Fuck yeah I have."

Their eyes bored into each other, both of them determined to win.

A card game was being played on Maria's bed, without her participation, and there was a sizeable stack of nail polish, perfumes and other rare goodies in the centre pot. She had tried to play at first, but soon gave up when her face was judged too easily read.

Now she was walking a slow circle around the ward, observing the evening's activities. It had been a calm sort of day and everyone was getting along as well as they could. Of course, there were still names being called and the occasional spat, but in general the feeling was one of camaraderie.

Per Niki's advice, she was looking for Beni to ask her what she had done to be here, but the magnetic woman was nowhere to be found. Pausing at the door to the bathroom, Maria stared at the drain cover and wondered.

"She's not down there." Ana singsonged in her ear.

Maria whirled around. "Where is she?"

The answering scowl was unfriendly. "What's it to you? You think just cos she groped you in the yard you have some sort of right to know? Listen here, Bambi, you're a worm and she's a bird. Worms don't know shit until they're torn in half by a beak."

"Why do you hate me?" Maria's voice only trembled once.

Ana backed her into a corner. They were roughly the same height but she felt very inadequate next to the voluptuousness of the redhead's body. Thickly lashed eyes, as green and sharp as a cactus in a desert, pierced her with their spines.

"I told you to stay away from her." Ana said finally.

"I don't seek her out!" Maria protested.

"Really? What are you doing right now?"

"I...I...I just..." Maria faltered, cheeks reddening.

Ana scoffed at her and put her hand low on Maria's stomach, teasing. "Have you ever even been with a woman before? Do you even know what it is you think you want from her? Do you like pain, Bambi? Do you like to be so twisted up inside that you could vomit all the love you feel and there'd still be more ready to come back up? Do you dream of blood and knives and teeth and long for it? Are you ready to be flayed open and laid bare for her to rip your heart out and toss it away? Are you?"

The words were terrifying and Ana's demeanour even more so. Struggling to escape, Maria shook her head. She felt dizzy.

"You're not." Ana crowed. "But I am."

"How could you...how could you want that?"

Ana laughed. "Oh. How could I not?"

A sudden commotion in the ward broke them apart. They went to look and were shocked to see Maggie limping down between the beds. Her face was swollen black, blue and yellow, her eyes bloodshot and sticky. Though she had her jumpsuit fastened all the way up, more bruises were still visible around her neck and wrists.

Darien rushed to her side and helped her to lie down. "Oh, Maggie," she gasped, "what happened?"

Maggie only whimpered and curled on her side. The inmates gathered around her, assessing the damage and murmuring amongst themselves.

Spots appeared across Maria's vision and she stepped back, feeling faint. Her body collided with something warm and unmoving and she turned to see Beni holding her up.

She couldn't help the cry that bubbled free.

Beni's pitch dark eyes crinkled at the sides. "Don't worry, Bambi. That'll never be you." It was a clear promise.

As her head spun, Maria found herself embraced in the arms of a woman she knew she should fear. But Beni smelled like clean sweat and soap and her fingers carded comfortingly through Maria's hair until her breathing slowed and the dizziness receded.


	12. Chapter 12

When morning came there was blood on the sheets of Maggie's bed and she was shockingly white. Darien turned her over and saw that it was coming from between her legs. She was shivering, her lips blue.

"Shit. Shit." Darien raced to the bars and rattled them. "Oi, Taylor! Oi! Come on, man, Maggie needs the doc!"

Taylor, the young male guard on duty, got up and peered into the ward. "I dunno..."

"She's bleeding out! You cant ignore it!" Darien stuck her arm through and grabbed for his keys.

He rolled his eyes. "Hold on, okay." Conversing with the other guard on duty, who was sat back with her eyes closed, he cast another glance Maggie's way and then left.

There was a long wait. Girls were panicking, fluttering around Maggie's increasingly unresponsive body and suggesting various things that might help, but probably wouldn't. Darien grew frantic, yelling obscenities at the remaining guard who merely smirked in response.

Finally they heard the sound of a key turning and Taylor unlocked the cell door, letting Warden Sinclair swoop in with Gabriel at her heels. She stopped at the end of Maggie's bed and frowned down at her.

Gabriel pushed through and knelt to take her pulse. He put his ear to her mouth. "She needs to be in the infirmary," he announced. "Now!"

Sinclair brushed off his urgency. "It's hardly that serious..."

"She's dying." Gabriel jumped to his feet, face thunderous. "You can't be so cruel as to let it happen." His tone quieted, turned pleading. "Please, let me help her."

The warden shrugged. "When did I say you couldn't?" She cast a look around. "Malika, Beni. Get over here and help carry her."

Sombrely, the two lifted Maggie and balanced her gently between them before following Gabriel and the warden out.

Darien immediately stripped the bed and took the sheets to the bathroom to soak in the sink. The bare mattress, dotted with brownish-red, lumpy and torn, was a work of horror to those who stared at it. Someone threw a blanket over the offending stains and the morning resumed as normal. Inmates washed, brushed their teeth and hair and dressed. They went to breakfast and shared muttered speculations about the chances of Maggie's survival.

When Malika and Beni returned they were grim faced.

"She is fucked." Malika said, not eating a bite. "That fucker worked her over good. Sinclair was so impressed she was practically smiling."

When they returned to the ward the mattress had been removed.

**********

An afternoon spent sewing was a bi-monthly task. They stitched up items including basic clothing and cushion covers which were then sent out to charities and orphanages. It was a way for them all to give back to the society they'd wronged.

Tensions were high that day and no one had the energy to keep their stitches straight. Curses and sighs filled the air as string knotted and snapped.

Parisy was overseeing them. "I can keep you here past dinner time," she warned, "and don't think I won't."

Darien dropped the sock she was darning. "I can't do anything without thinking about her. How am I supposed to sit here and sew when Maggie...when she might be dead!"

Niki mimed playing a tiny violin and then squawked as the other girl lunged across the table at her. Darien clawed, scratching the skinny blonde's face, and Parisy started towards them.

"Beni!" Niki squeaked as Darien pulled her hair with one hand, balancing on the table with the other.

Languidly, Beni sat up and gave them both an irritated glare. She moved faster than Parisy could, breaking up the fight by slamming her needle straight through the back of Darien's hand. Then she used her elbow to whack her hard in the mouth.

Darien fell back, spitting blood. Squeezing her eyes shut, she yanked the needle out of her palm with a shuddering groan. By that time Parisy had ahold of her, unyielding even as Darien tried to go for Niki again.

"I think a day or two in solitary might sort you out."

Darien wailed.

Niki cackled, curling her fingers in a sardonic wave. "Bye-bye!" She called as Darien was handed off to Taylor and dragged away still screaming. "Fucking cunt!"

Maria sat openmouthed. She'd never seen Darien lose it like that and it was a coin-toss as to which shocked her more: Darien's outburst or Beni's ice-cold rebuttal. She didn't miss Malika's weary eye-roll as Niki, enamoured by her defender, snuggled up to Beni for the remainder of the afternoon.

**********

The next day Governor Ballard was back again, watching them out in the yard during recreation and while they ran laps and did push-ups. He smoked a fat cigar, puffing away as he studied each prisoner individually. He was up high in an open window, surveying like God above.

Maria panted as she kept pace with Emanuelle. Slowly but surely she was gaining muscle-tone in her legs and finding it easier to go without stopping or puking afterward.

"I'm waiting for him to pick me." Emanuelle said suddenly.

"What on earth for?"

"I want to get a look at that room he takes them to. If he doesn't pick me soon I might have to beg Beni's assistance on a crawl."

Maria shivered. She didn't want to go anywhere near the governor, not if she could help it. Beni's promise still rang in her ears and she clung to it, hoping it was somehow true. The thought of ending up like Maggie was terrifying. She'd seen an old woman mangled in a car crash once in the city, when she was a schoolgirl, and even that horrific sight didn't haunt her like the image of Maggie bruised and bloody and waxy white.

*********

Beni stood in the entrance to the showers, hip cocked. She was nearly dry, her hair damp and spiky, and she was already half dressed in her tank and panties. Most of the other girls had returned to the ward but there were a few stragglers still under the spray. One of them was Maria.

Clenching her jaw, Beni let her gaze fall over the slender figure fully revealed to her. She savoured the sight and the anticipation. She wondered how Maria might sound in the heat of the moment: if she'd whimper and cry iridescent little tears of pleasure. Or, if Beni was rough, would she have a high pitched or throaty scream?

At that moment - just as Beni was picturing her pink mouth open in orgasm - Maria lifted her head and looked at her. The eye contact hit Beni like a zing of electricity and she moved into the showers, prowling across the tiles until they were close enough to touch.

Taking the soap from hands gone lax, Beni lathered the other woman's back and shoulders, biting her lip as she felt the silky skin. No protest came and she smiled at the thought that Maria was afraid to tell her no. Giving up the pretence of helping her wash, Beni slid her hands under the blonde's armpits and around until she was cupping both breasts. She kissed the nape of Maria's neck, tasting nothing but clean water, and then dragged her teeth down the top of her spine.

"I...uh..." Maria stuttered.

"What?" Beni pinched a nipple.

"I wanted...Niki said...I wanted..."

"Spit it out, Bambi."

"I just wanted to ask you." Maria turned in her arms, lips close enough to kiss. "I want to know why you're here."

Restraining herself, Beni grinned. "I couldn't resist you."

"No." If it was possible, the pale skin grew even redder. "I mean. What did you do to get in here?"

Torture. Death. Blood. So much screaming. Knives and guns and other, cruder weapons. Bodies decomposing in the wilderness, rotting flesh pecked at by birds. The need, the hunger, the goddamn ecstasy of it all.

"I killed some people in self defence. Men. Rapists and abusers."

"Self defence?" Maria echoed.

"Of course."

Beni advanced, walking her back into the wall. Restraint be damned, she was going to devour that soft sweet mouth until it was a bitten, bruised mess. Maria gulped, lashes fluttering and heart pounding. It was so loud, so strong a beat that Beni could feel it thump when she flattened her palms over the shorter woman's chest.

"Beni, please," Maria whispered, "I'm afraid."

"I don't want to stop." Beni breathed, so close she could taste her.

Then, with unexpected boldness, Maria lifted a hand to her cheek and let it lay there and she stared unblinkingly into Beni's eyes.

Disarmed by the touch and enamoured by the quiet plea, Beni backed off. She stuck her head under the water and then shook out her hair, pushing the tap to cold.

"Get outta here, Bambi, before I change my mind."

Maria stammered a thank you and skittered away. Beni drenched her enflamed body in the icy spray and groaned.


	13. Chapter 13

"Let me out!" Darien moaned through the hole where they shoved a plate of food twice a day. "C'mon, I'm calm. I'm calm. Fuck. At least tell me if Maggie's okay!"

She was cloistered in a tiny cell with barely enough room to stand or stretch. There were no windows and no light. There was just darkness and damp and the occasional scurry of a rat.

The narrow hole in her hand itched something fierce and she was going crazy with the need to smoke. Nobody bothered to answer her cries, though she knew there had to be at least one guard stationed in the hallway. She kicked at the wall and loose plaster broke and fell.

How long had she been in there? It was impossible to tell. How did Beni stand it when she was shoved in solitary for weeks on end? Darien knew if she was there any longer she'd surely go mad, and maybe that was Beni's secret: she was already insane.

***********

Maria and Malika were washing the cafeteria floor again. This time there wasn't as much food debris to sweep up. They worked side by side and Maria enjoyed the other woman's soothing serenity. It seemed that nothing ruffled her and Maria envied that.

"How long have you been here?" She asked.

Malika thought. "Eight years, give or take."

"How old are you?"

"Thirty-one. Sometimes I feel fifty or sixty. I don't keep my birthday anymore, anyhow. There's not much point."

Maria dunked her sponge and swept it in a circle around her. "I'll be at least twenty-eight by the time I leave."

Malika's smile was sympathetic and a little sceptical. "I'd like to humour you, but unless you're a model prisoner, that's not going to happen. Most get time added on, or end up with a life sentence. Of course, some are lucky. Maybe you will be."

During the short yard allowance between dinner and bed, Maria joined Malika and Ada where they were playing cards and smoking. Sitting down beside them, she cast a furtive glance back at the other prisoners. Niki and Beni were doing one handed push ups and Ana was lying on the tarmac watching the clouds roll by.

The salty smell of the sea was strong on the breeze. Maria could taste it when she licked her lips. A few drops of rain fell in short, sporadic bursts. There was the feeling of an approaching storm in the air.

"I hear you're Beni's bitch." Ada remarked nonchalantly.

Maria prickled at the term. "I am not."

"Oh yeah? You've been sitting here ten minutes and looking at her for over half that time."

"Has she told you what she's in for?" Malika asked.

Maria nodded. "She killed some men in self defence. Rapists." Why did she sound so defensive? "It's not so different from you and the man who beat your sister, is it?"

Malika's exquisite features hardened. "Beni and I are nothing alike. Of course she told you self defence. And you believed it? Please. She's a goddamn psychotic serial killer. The men she killed weren't rapists or wife-beaters or whatever shit she wants to claim. They were just dumb schmucks who got into her car or let her in their houses to use the phone. She was on quite the spree when she was caught. Thirty known victims, the papers said, and probably more that haven't been found."

Maria's heart leapt into her throat. "How do you know?"

"She was caught two years before I turned myself in. I followed the news, like most."

"H...how did they catch her?"

"Stopped for speeding with a body in her backseat. Guess it was fate."

Suddenly the watery stew she'd eaten threatened to come back up. Maria lurched to her feet, blanching, and clapped a hand over her mouth. She stumbled over to where Kleinfeld stood at the door and begged to be let in to the toilet. When the guard dismissed her with a sharp no, Maria vomited all over the woman's shoes.

Swearing in disgust, Kleinfeld hit her stomach with her baton and more vomit dribbled out. Maria collapsed to the ground, dry heaving and sobbing. She wanted to go to the showers and wash off all remnants of Beni's touch. The idea that she'd kissed - no, nearly kissed - a serial killer made her sick with horror.

When Parisy came over to see what the fuss was, Kleinfeld kicked Maria towards her. "Take her up to the infirmary, will you?"

They took the big old elevator, which shrieked and groaned as it lifted them three stories higher. Maria shrank in on herself, ashamed to be covered in regurgitated chicken and vegetables. She dug in her heels as the guard dragged her towards the doctor's door, not wanting him to see her looking so foul.

"Stand up straight!" Parisy barked, rapping on the wood.

Gabriel met them with raised brows. "What's happened? Are you all right?" He placed his hand on Maria's shoulder, uncaring of the state she was in.

"Threw up." Parisy grimaced. "Give her some water or something. Kleinfeld'll come get her later."

Gabriel beckoned her in and nodded. When they were alone he took her temperature and handed her a damp cloth and bowl of water to wash herself.

"Give me your clothes. I'll get them cleaned. I've a spare jumpsuit in the cabinet which should fit."

He pulled out the screen for her to duck behind and then stood with his back to her. Fat drops of rain began to pelt the barred window and the sky swirled grey. The light in the room changed as the storm crawled in and everything became a little dimmer.

"How do you feel?" Gabriel asked when she was done.

She shuffled toward him like a meek child, chewing on her bottom lip. "I'm fine. I'm not sick. I mean, I was sick, but not because I am..."

"Oh."

"Malika told me something about Beni." She swallowed down rising bile. "Something I didn't know. I guess I'm stupid to react this way."

He touched a loose strand of her hair. "No. Not stupid. Sensitive, maybe."

Sniffling, she said: "You're just trying to make me feel better. Serves me right for being nosy. From now on I'm not going to ask what people did to get in here." Her eyes, like saucers, burned into him.

He could see the question in them, the curiosity about his own sentence, and he wanted to tell her, really, only she'd do more than throw up if he did. She'd run screaming.

"Yes, well. Perhaps that's for the best."

She sat down on the chair covered in bobbled orange fabric and sipped at the glass of water he gave her. Sure that she would be okay, he busied himself tidying up. Thunder rumbled outside, preceding a flash of lightning that lit the clouds in a sheet of brilliant white.

The hole in the ceiling was already dripping and he fetched a bucket to catch it. When the rains came the higher floors often flooded. His own cell had damp mould in one corner.

"I have to go check on Maggie." She'd come to him a bloody mess and had not stopped crying since she woke. Now she slipped in and out of induced sleep. "Do you want to come with me?"

"How is she?"

"She'll recover. Physically, at least."

"I'm glad."

He eyed her appraisingly. "She'll need some good friends when she gets out. Someone to talk to. I've been trying but its the fault of my sex that she can't respond."

Maria liked the fact he thought she was worth trusting. Of course she would help Maggie if she could, however she could, and she was sure Darien would as well. She liked being of use and making people happy. Back in the real world she'd dedicated her time to doing things for Peter and being rewarded with a beaming smile or gentle pat on the bottom. He admired what he called her 'natural submissiveness', and he often said it was what he valued most about her.

"Are you married?" She asked as they walked to the bigger infirmary room. There were a dozen beds in there, all starched and folded at the corner. There was also a radio which was playing soft jazz on a low volume.

"I was." Gabriel took Maggie's temperature and then fiddled with her bag of fluid. "She died."

"I'm sorry."

"It was a long time ago. Feels like a whole different lifetime, to be honest."

Maggie shifted, moaning. Her hands were clenched around the blanket.

Maria helped Gabriel write out an order request form - her loopy scrawl beside his neat print - until Kleinfeld arrived to take her back to gen-pop. She lay on her bed for the rest of the evening, excused because of her delicate stomach, and dreamed of ocean eyes and strong arms.

**********

A day or two later, when everyone was in the bathroom brushing their teeth and washing their faces, Kleinfeld and Parisy came in with their batons ready. "Line up!" They barked, waiting until all backs were to the wall.

They moved from inmate to inmate, sharing ominous glances and enjoying the tension that thickened the air.

"Governor Ballard has a couple of visitors tonight." Kleinfeld intoned.

"Oh yes, he does." Parisy sneered.

They stopped in front of Beni.

"He's made a special request."

Beni arched a brow, leaning unconcerned against the tiles.

"Ana Visalia." Kleinfeld's head snapped to her left. Ana froze beside Beni, the blood draining from her face. Her pupils were pinpricks of horror. "You're up, girl."

"What?" The question was almost laughed out, but her voice shook in fear. "Me? But I...But Beni..."

Parisy seized her by the wrist and yanked her forward. Ana spun to face her lover, so sure there was a misunderstanding.

"Beni?" Never had she sounded so small, so afraid. "Beni, you said it wouldn't be me."

There was no answering spark of emotion. Beni was cool, unbothered by the tears that began to fall or the betrayal that stung Ana in the core of her soul.

Wildly, throwing her limbs about like she was having a fit, Ana began to scream and shout. At first it was nonsense curses but soon enough it became threats towards Maria, who clutched helplessly at her toothbrush.

"Fuck you, Bambi! I'll fucking kill you! You hear me? When I get back you're dead! DEAD. You're a slut! You're a goddamn whore! Bug-eyed fucking whore! You're dead!"

She screeched all through the ward, her screams still audible as the doors were closed and locked.

Everyone looked to Beni, who shrugged.

Malika spat on the ground. "Bitch." She hit Beni with her shoulder as she passed, shaking her head.

Maria caught Beni's gaze in the mirror, darting her eyes away as the other woman slowly smiled. She gargled her mouthwash, braided her hair, and went to bed wide awake.


	14. Chapter 14

Emanuelle woke with a start. She was good at setting her own internal alarms, a talent she'd found useful in her career. When you always had to be first on the scene or first to scoop a story, it was imperative that you never overslept.

It was around 3am and the ward was quiet save for some soft snoring and sleepy muttering. The light in the bathroom was on and she could see the lean silhouette of the woman waiting for her.

"Nervous?" Beni asked, stubbing her cigarette out in the sink.

Emanuelle shook her head. She'd approached Beni the day before and asked her to take her on a crawl. She didn't particularly relish having the resident psychopath along, but there was no one else who knew the prison layout so well.

The grate was already lifted and Emanuelle peered down the hole. "I want to go to Ballard's room," she repeated, "and the warden's office."

"I know. You got some danger kink?" Beni looked amused.

"I've got an information kink." Emanuelle said, sitting down and feeding herself into the hole.

"You'll owe me," Beni warned. "I usually only take those I like down here."

"Oh, like Ana?"

An awkward silence descended. Beni's redheaded little sex bomb still hadn't returned to the ward and whether she would or not was a subject of yard gossip. Judging by the condition Maggie had been in, if Ana did come back it wouldn't be pretty.

"Ana can handle herself." Beni smirked.

It was so dark in the tunnels that Emanuelle had to keep close to the other woman. They trudged through the slush, listening to the groaning of the pipes. Rats squeaked and scattered.

"You ever seen a rat king?" Beni asked. "I could show you one."

Emanuelle grimaced. "Please don't."

They reached a rotting ladder.

"Up here?"

"Yeah. Watch out on the fourth rung."

They took a dangerous shortcut through the guards' quarters and heard someone grunting like a pig in their sleep.

"Betcha that's Kleinfeld." Beni said.

After that they took a narrow stairwell lit in flickering red and then they were at their destination. Emanuelle bent to study the lock and then produced a pin and a hair grip from her shoe. She began to jimmy it open, forehead creased in concentration.

"Damn girl," Beni whistled low, "you learn that in all the books you read?"

Emanuelle grinned triumphantly and opened the door. "Something like that." She said, generously allowing the other woman to go before her.

They wandered in like two little Alices, eyes wide as they beheld the restraints, the buckled chair, the bath and more. Emanuelle checked inside a closet and found a veritable treasure trove of whips, clamps and dildos - the largest of which was twice as thick as her wrist and covered in wince-inducing knobs.

Beni snorted at it. "I bet he loves using that on them. Wonder if he'd like it shoved up his own asshole?" She pulled a drawer open and laughed. "Gags?" She held up a nasty looking ball gag. "Butt plugs?" There was a bowl of figs on the side table which she seemed to understand more than Emanuelle did.

"My my," Beni pointed to a circular black object mounted on the ceiling, "There's a little eye blinking at me." She waved at it.

Emanuelle stood beside her, arms crossed. "A camera. Of course."

"Makes sense. He needs something to beat off to when he's doing his day job on the mainland."

The room smelled of stale sweat, sex and just the tiniest tang of urine. It was cloying and unpleasant.

"Girls have died here." Emanuelle said solemnly. For a moment she saw the ghostly figures of women writhing on the bed, their mouths open in screams of pain. She touched the mattress. "I'd like to put some luminol on this."

Beni side-eyed her. "You sound like a cop. Fuck luminol. I'd like to put Ballard on that bed, strap him in, and gut him. I'd cut off his cock and stuff it down his mouth." She flexed her hands, wanting.

Emanuelle drew in a breath. "While I can't say I approve...that would be just, wouldn't it?"

They moved on to the warden's office, which Emanuelle opened with no difficulty, and began rifling through her desk and filing cabinets. It was sparsely but smartly decorated and there was an odd painting of some sort of melting nude on the wall.

"I wonder where the camera is." Emanuelle turned up nothing. "I'd like to get ahold of Ballard's tapes. Imagine having that proof." She'd be able to shut the whole place down, perhaps even send Ballard and Warden Sinclair to court and then to jail where they belonged. And she'd definitely score a promotion. Maybe even a private office instead of a partitioned desk in the main newsroom.

"I'm starting to think you're not a real prisoner." Beni teased, meaning every word. She looked interested, like Emanuelle was suddenly someone to be taken note of. Her gait became seductive as she walked in a circle around her. She tilted the shorter woman's chin up and stared into her eyes. "We're gonna be on tape, you know."

Emanuelle's stomach churned. That was unavoidable, but she dreaded the punishment.

Beni's smile was blinding. "Don't worry, baby. I'll take the blame. Do you remember the way back to the ward?"

Emanuelle nodded.

"Go on then."

"What about you?"

Beni sat in the warden's chair and put her feet up on the desk. She took a cigarette out of the packet beside the lamp and lit it, blowing clouds into the air. "I'll wait right here. Me n Sinclair can work something out, I'm sure. Give Bambi a good morning kiss for me, will you?"


	15. Chapter 15

Taylor took the tamper-proof lock off the telephone. It was wall-mounted and button dialled. There was a worn old phonebook on a shallow shelf beneath it and some random numbers scribbled in pen on the wall.

"You get twenty minutes, max," he instructed, "you won't get another call for three months, so make the most of it. If you pick someone who doesn't answer, that's it. You only get to dial one number. I'll be in here with you the whole time, so if you don't want me to hear it then don't say it. You get me?"

Maria nodded. They were in a tiny little room referred to by the guards as the 'booth'. She was visibly nervous and Taylor put his hand on her shoulder when she trembled.

"You don't have to call anyone if you don't want to." He said, sounding kinder than she'd ever heard him.

"No, I do. I just..." How could she explain it? She longed to be reassured by Peter's voice, to hear him say 'i love you' and believe him, but Beni and Malika's words made her afraid. She didn't want to hear him lie and yet if he told her what they assumed was true...she might just break down.

"Okay." Taylor checked his watch. "Time starts now."

She picked up the receiver and punched in the familiar number. He didn't have a job, so there was a good chance he was home, but honestly he could be anywhere with anyone and she wouldn't know. He could be indulging in his womanising, enjoying the stretched out freedom of their long engagement.

It rang shrilly once, twice and then:

"Hello, Peter Radcliffe speaking?" Maria made an embarrassing choking noise.

"Hello?" He sounded annoyed, like he'd just woken up.

"It's me."

"Maria? Babe?" She could imagine his smile. "I was wondering when they'd let you call. I've been dreaming about you."

"I've dreamed of you, too." She replied and it was true. In amongst nightmares about prison and violence and odd, wanting dreams of Gabriel, she'd dreamt of Peter and their life together.

"I miss your ass in those frilly pink things," he let out a long mmm. "Ugh, babe, your mother's been leaving me daily messages. I guess she can't get through to you, huh? Can you tell her to stop?"

Maria reddened and then got annoyed. "She's probably worried."

"Yeah but I could do without her bothering me."

"Im sorry." She said automatically.

"Andrew and Stella got engaged. They're having the wedding in Hawaii, can you believe it? I tell you, I'm only going for the sun, sand, and cocktails. There's no way Stella's gonna be anything to ogle - she's put on at least five pounds since you last saw her. Either she's knocked up or she's already too comfortable, hey? Good thing I never have to worry about that with you."

Maria didn't care. Maybe she would have, pre three to four year sentence, but what did Andrew and Stella have to do with anything any more?

"I won a couple of thou at the races at the weekend. Mark wants me to come in on his nightclub idea, says I'd be an ideal frontman. Actually, I'm considering it, though its a little too close to legitimate work," he laughed, "your parents would love that, hey, babe? Maybe they'd finally quit their bitching about me not being good enough..."

"Peter." Maria said his name urgently. "Have you done anything about getting my sentence reduced or overturned like you promised? You know I don't deserve to be here!"

"Ah, come on, babe. Prison's not so bad, is it?"

"How would you know?" She snapped. He didn't reply and so she said, contritely: "I'm sorry. I just can't stand it."

He sighed. "I'm working on it. You know these things take time."

Ask him. Beni's voice rang in her head. ASK HIM. Maria bit her tongue. She couldn't do it. She didn't want to know. It would kill her. Her perfect wedding, perfect dress, perfect future children, perfect life would be gone in an instant if he even so much as hesitated in his reply.

Taylor indicated his watch.

Peter was talking about Andrew and Stella again, rambling about their tacky taste in decorating. She didn't care! Andrew and Stella could go fuck themselves! She was trapped on an island in a fortress filled with criminals and maniacs!

"Peter." She said again, cutting through his crap. "Were those drugs in my suitcases yours?"

She heard an intake of breath, a muttered curse. That was enough. She slammed the phone down and then picked it back up and slammed it several times more.

Taylor grabbed it off her and pushed her away. "Don't do that."

She was crying. "I don't want any more telephone calls! Not a single one!"

He took her back to the ward. "You let me know if you change your mind. I won't hold you to it."

Maria didn't reply. She felt nauseous. What she wanted more than anything at that moment was a place to be alone, but in a ward full of women that was impossible.

**********

The gate that led to the solitary cells clanged. Warden Sinclair marched Beni down the hall, her baton sticking into the small of the prisoner's back.

She'd entered her office that morning to the sight of Beni, comfortable as could be, reading her own file and adding notes to it in red pen. Then she'd been told that Beni and another prisoner had broken into the governor's room during the night.

"You might wanna erase the tape, mama." Beni'd said slyly. "Just so you don't get in any trouble."

As if she was afraid of some oversexed politician.

What she was, was itching for some way to work off all her tension. And Beni had handed herself to her on a platter. Sinclair wanted to unwrap her like a present, and she'd do it, too.

They passed Darien's cell. The girl was sticking her hand through the hole at the bottom of the door. "Hello? Let me out! C'mon. I've learnt my lesson! C'mon! I need a fucking cigarette!"

Sinclair ground the heel of her shoe on the scrabbling fingers, smiling at the scream that followed.

Beni glanced back at her, a Mona Lisa smile playing about her mouth.

Sinclair shoved her into the biggest cell and locked the door. "Take off your clothes." She ordered. When Beni was unashamedly nude, she took the opportunity to examine the mess left over from the last time they'd had a date with the warden's whip and frustration, and Beni's delight. The wounds were close to healing. Sinclair frowned.

"Up against the wall." She strapped her in.

The whip was ready. She'd chosen a double stranded and braided beast and ordered it salted and left in the cell for her. Sinclair shrugged out of her uniform jacket and rolled up the sleeves of her blouse. Then she pushed herself against Beni's back, letting the other woman feel the warmth of her, before moving into the perfect spot and readying her stance.

"Don't bother to count."

Sinclair let rip, striking with furious precision. Beni's spine arched, her head tilting back as her mouth opened in a silent cry. The muscles in her arms and legs stood at attention, her toes flexing. The whip landed again and again and again until a river of blood poured from the abused flesh of her back, buttocks and thighs.

Sinclair was transfixed by the red. It sated her rage and her hunger and her disgust for all the women under her charge. She stood at Beni's side and dragged her nails through the ragged lacerations.

Beni moaned, eyes wide open.

"You ever killed anyone, mama? I bet you'd be good at it."

Sinclair slapped her. "Shut up. I don't want to hear you talk, I want to hear you scream." Stepping back, she resumed the whipping.

Darien hunched in her cell listening to the sounds of drawn out torture. She clutched at her poor bruised fingers and closed her eyes.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this to exorcise my lockdown fatigue. Comments are welcome : ) Enjoy!

Maria approached Niki in the laundry room. They ducked behind the washing machines where the noise would mask their conversation. Niki was vibrating on tip-toe, anxiety about Beni's sudden disappearance making her restless.

"What's up, Bambi. Don't tell me you're missing Beni, too."

That wasn't it. "I...uh. Do you have anything I can take? Like...like the morphine?" She just wanted to clear her head and forget, to force out the sinking depression that was drowning her ever since the telephone call.

A grin lit up Niki's face. "Oh, you want somethin'? What're ya gonna give me in return?"

"I don't have anything. What do you want?"

"I've got an itch you could scratch."

Maria wrinkled her nose. "Niki, I'm not attracted to you."

The other woman snorted. "You don't need to be. You want morphine and it don't come free. You can either eat my pussy or Beni's. What'll it be?"

Maria's first instinct was to walk away but she couldn't bear another hour of heartbreak. It was probably too much to hope that Niki was kidding. Her heart beat fast as she thought. She'd never used sex as currency before and it wasn't something she wanted to do. But. It was all she had to offer.

"Okay. You. Not Beni." She wasn't ready to service a serial killer. "But I want it today."

Niki nodded. "Come see me after dinner tonight."

**********

The first thing Darien did upon being released back into gen-pop was chain smoke five cigarettes. Leafing through some movie-star rag, she let the ash drop all over her bed in clumps of grey. Emanuelle gave her a plaster for her hand, which she accepted curtly. Over near the bathrooms, Niki and Maria had their heads bent together. They looked pretty cosy and Darien started to wonder exactly how much she'd missed while in solitary.

Where was Ana, anyway?

"You okay?" Malika asked, sitting down across from her.

"I guess."

"Me n' Ada requested some time in the yard tonight. You wanna come run laps? Or we can run and you can watch."

Darien shrugged. "I could use some exercise." She'd been scrunched up in a cell for long enough that her limbs felt petrified.

"Come on then. We can box if you wanna release some tension."

It was twilight and the sky was pink and gold. It reflected on the windows of the prison and in the random puddles left by the rain. They ended up playing basketball and Darien pulled no punches. She needed to win.

**********

Gabriel awoke with a start. Someone was rapping at the door of his cell. He went and peered through the little window. Kleinfeld was there and she ordered him out. "There's a job for you." She said as they walked toward the infirmary. "Ana Visalia."

The floor was cold underfoot and his sleep-clothes were no barrier against the night chill. He was so tired that his eyelids were drooping. Kleinfeld seemed annoyed and harried and she refused to answer any of his quiet questions.

Sinclair was at the infirmary door, her silk dressing gown half open to reveal lacy underwear that pushed her breasts up to an alarming degree. She looked down at her décolletage and then up at him and smiled. Gabriel ignored her.

On the bed next to Maggie's, Ana lay like a nude mannequin. There were angry red bruises around her neck and wrists and her entire torso was covered in bite marks. Vomit congealed on the pillow underneath her and as he moved closer she began to cough up more.

"She needs to be on her side." He said sharply, turning her gently so that she didn't choke to death on her own sick. When Sinclair came to stand beside him he stared at her in revulsion. "How can you let Ballard get away with this?" He knew there were many reasons: money, power, antipathy, sadism... Sinclair and Ballard were really two peas in a pod.

Maggie's eyes flashed in the dimness and he realised she was awake and watching. What a horrible sight to see and what a vivid reminder of her own condition. When the warden left he would give her something to send her back to sleep.

He checked Ana for any broken bones and found some when he touched her ribs and she let out an ear-splitting scream. Hushing her, he stroked her hair and forehead. There was nothing more serious, which was good.

Standing straight, he slid into full doctor mode. Kleinfeld and Sinclair were unessecary distractions to the work he now had to do and he politely asked them to leave. Sinclair managed to palm his ass and whisper some low, threatening, promise before she slunk off to indulge whatever perverse desire she had at 3am.

"The next one will die." Maggie stated as he cleaned, set, and bandaged Ana's broken body.

"Don't say that."

"It's true. He has murder in mind. I should know. I think he wants to fuck a corpse."

Gabriel squinted at her. "I won't let that happen."

She laughed. "What can you do?"

He didn't blame her for being sceptical. Despite his status as the prison doctor he had no power. The only thing he had was the warden's lust and what he kept from her.

*********

Maria's head was between Niki's thighs. She'd never been so close to a vagina. The blonde lifted herself onto her elbows impatiently.

"Get the fuck on with it, Bambi."

"I don't. I'm not sure..."

"It's not rocket science, princess. Just lick it. Surely you've had someone go down on you before!"

Maria frowned. Peter'd done it for her once near the beginning of their relationship but she was too shy to ask for it and he'd never offered again. Summoning the memory, she parted the soft folds of Niki's sex with her fingers and flattened her tongue against the moist skin. She swirled it around the clitoris, sucked on the labia and darted deep inside the clenching hole.

Niki grabbed her head and forced her closer, grinding herself hard against Maria's face. She was gasping and swearing. "Use your fingers!" She ordered, throwing her head back when Maria obeyed. She tasted sharp and sweet and her juices smeared over Maria's lips.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. FUCK!"

Niki let her go, collapsing onto her mattress with a dreamy smile.

Maria wiped her mouth.

"Give me a minute, Bambi, then I'll get you what you want. I guess you earned it."


	17. Chapter 17

“We’ll have to hold the tournament for another month.” Ballard said around his cigar. Smoke puffed in Warden Sinclair’s face. “I’ve got some business that can’t wait.” He didn’t look happy.

Sinclair shrugged. “It’s not like they’re going anywhere.”

He slapped his chequebook down on the desk and wrote a nice fat number. It was enough for some refurbishments, several medical orders and even a spike in the amount and variety of food shipped over from the mainland. Sinclair, however, would be pocketing more than half of it.

She slipped the cheque into the drawer and locked it.

They went down to the dock where the boatman was waiting with his cap pulled low. Ballard tossed his cigar into the sea where it fizzled out. Sinclair bore his departing kisses - one on each cheek - with patience and then waited on the pier until he was nothing but a speck on the horizon.

She turned to admire the grey monstrosity she ruled. It was hideous but, to her, it was home. In her younger years she’d entertained the idea of becoming a teacher and moulding fresh young minds, but children had parents and rights and all manner of things that prevented her from delivering corporal punishments and mental torture.

Criminals weren’t so lucky. They were sent to her island to serve their sentences and no one gave a shit about them while they were there.

They were all hers.

***********

Beni hung limply from the chains that held her to the wall. Her face was smushed against the scratchy concrete and her toes brushed, blue and numb, over the floor. She was so cold that the burning agony of her wounds had dulled to something akin to a pleasurable tingle. She parted her lips, which were dry and flaking, and hoarsely called for water.

Sinclair tipped a cup down her throat, but it wasn’t water. It was whiskey. Beni choked and spluttered, waking up.

When her shackles were unlocked she collapsed to the floor. Smirking, she looked up at the warden blearily. “You went pretty hard on me this time, mama.”

Sinclair knelt beside her. “Too hard?”

Of course not. Beni shook her head.

They kissed lazily. Sinclair smeared her hands in the crusty wet blood that covered Beni’s back. “Do you want to go back to the ward or would you rather spend the night with me?”

This was a rare offer. The warden’s bedroom was lush and smelled like roses. Her bed was a soft satin dream. She had an ensuite with a porcelain, paw-footed, bath and more perfumes and salts than a department store.

Beni accepted the invitation and Sinclair wrapped her in a dressing gown before leading her up the stairs to her quarters. She had food waiting on the carved oak dinner table. There was chicken and rice and fruit - berries and bananas and juicy slices of orange - and Beni gobbled it down without pause for manners.

As she ate Sinclair massaged her head and shoulders, watching her with satisfaction. Afterward, she filled the bath and washed Beni gently before applying ointment and bandages where they were needed.

“I want you to fuck me,” she whispered in her prisoner’s ear. She’d been thinking about it all day. Her morning spent haranguing Gabriel in the infirmary had made her warm and wet between the legs. What she really wanted was the good doctor pounding her without restraint, but that would have to wait.

She opened the drawer beside her bed and pulled out a large black strap-on. Beni eyed it and smiled a curling, catlike smile.

“Take your clothes off, then.” She said.

Sinclair performed a strip tease, knowing that her voluptuous body was something to be worshipped. She hooked her leg over Beni’s shoulder and groaned as a vicious tongue began lapping at her pussy.

The damp strands of Beni’s hair were slippery in her hands as she grasped and teased them, murmuring instructions and praises as her pleasure built. Drawing too close to the edge, she pushed the slender woman back by her shoulders and then bent to kiss her open-mouthed, tongues tangling and breath mingling.

She buckled Beni into the harness and manoeuvred her across the room to the bed. There she lay down and spread her legs, touching herself wantonly, as her prisoner applied lubricant to the bulbous facsimile of a cock.

“Tell me about one of your murders,” Sinclair breathed as Beni bore down on her. “Tell me in detail.”

Lining up and pushing in, Beni wasted no time being gentle. She moved in sharp, steady thrusts, her fingers finding Sinclair’s clit and rubbing.

“There was a guy on an overnight train,” she spoke in a low growl, “I met him in the dining car. He bought me a vodka cranberry and told me how much money he made on Wall Street. I pretended to be impressed. I put my hand on his leg and tied a cherry stem into a knot. When we finished our drinks he invited me back to his cabin.”

“How did he look?” Sinclair asked, breasts bouncing from the force of the fucking.

“Square chin, fair hair. Blue eyed boy.” Beni bit her lip. “His body was built. Guess he took pride in it. He sure wanted to show it off to me.”

“What did you do?”

“I got him on the bed, got him hard. He was leaking all over the place. I had a serrated knife in my boot, mama. When he closed his eyes in ecstasy I pulled it out and cut off his damn cock. You should have seen the blood. It was a fountain. I was covered in it. He started to scream so I cut his throat. Then there were only gurgles. I turned the radio on and cut him from groin to neck. By that point he was dead.”

“Ah! Ah!” Sinclair crossed her ankles behind Beni’s back, urging her on.

"I put his penis in the cup of water by his bed and stuffed his intestines in his briefcase. The train made one stop during the night and I got off there, red and rotten and alive. I washed up in a nearby river, grabbed a burger at a diner, and stole some jerkoff’s car.”

“Oh, you’re a bad girl,” Sinclair purred. She couldn’t last much longer. Beni’s rhythm was relentless and the gory picture painted in her minds eye morphed to one of Gabriel, similarly dismembered, on his sterile little infirmary bed.

“You’ll let me at him, won’t you mama?” Beni asked, bucking violently.

“Mmmm…once I get my way, you’ll get yours.” They kissed, eating each others mouths like ravenous wolves.

When Sinclair climaxed, clenching spastically around the dildo, she bit Beni’s prominent collarbone and tore at the skin. They then relaxed together, panting, and listened to the wind whistling through the gaps in the windowsill.

************

Maggie dragged herself out of bed and walked unsteadily to look down on the sleeping Ana. She ripped the tube out of her own arm and wandered the length of the sickroom. Her shadow was a giant on the wall, swaying as she swayed and disappearing whenever a cloud passed across the moon.

Earlier that day, when Gabriel had been stitching and redressing Ana’s wounds, she’d pretended to want to help him and stood near his trolley of medical instruments. She didn’t know what exactly they were, only that two of them were sharp and crude enough for what she wanted. When she was sure he was paying her no attention, she stole one and hid it in the waist band of her pants.

It was still there. She’d been careful not to move and cut herself, lying stiff as a board all day. Memories of her time with Ballard swamped her whenever she was awake, and they were only getting stronger. She didn’t want to EVER see him again. She didn’t want to go back to gen-pop and act like everything was fine. She didn’t want to live forever in prison, with no possible way to ensure she would never be chosen again.

Leaning back against the door, which was dead bolted on the outside, she withdrew the instrument she’d hidden and let it glint in the moonlight. Then, gritting her teeth, she sliced deep into each wrist and slumped down to bleed out.

When they found her the next morning there was a smile on her cold dead face.


End file.
